Charity - volunteering. Historical aspect of formation of voluntary work in Russia

In our country volunteerism is gaining popularity. Mass media share information about it, charity actions are held, volunteers take part in mass international events. However, in comparison with the European countries, Asia and America, the level of volunteering in Russia is still low enough for the international level. At the same time, we can now observe that both local and federal authorities show considerable interest in dealing with the problem. Although since the beginning of the 90-ies of the XX century, various sports and cultural activities have already attracted volunteers to the organization. Now the volunteer work in Russia is gaining momentum. In our country, almost each major citiy has at least one volunteer body. Specialized organizations effectively solve the problem of involving citizens in socially useful activity. These are professional organizations which function in the field of development and support of volunteering aiming to improve volunteer work among citizens. They also use volunteer opportunities to solve local communities' problems. The article considers the formation of the term "volunteerism" and concretizes the concept. The main stages of the development of volunteer labor in Russia are presented.