Alex Ovechkin and Sergei Fedorov at charity event

  By Irina Popova and Svetlana Prudovskaya, The Voice of America, Oct. 21, 2008:

The Russian Cultural Center in Washington DC held a Russian art charity evening, organized with participation of the New York Charitable Fund "Mishka" and club "Lomonosov", which brings together prominent Russian athletes, artists, successful businessmen who live and work in the USA. All collected funds will go to pay for the surgery to a child from Vladivostok.

The Mishka fund employee Irina Kovaleva told the Russian Service of "Voice of America", that their organization had started working in May. Mishka sponsors the operations for children in Russia and is working with Russian orphanages.

"All the money will go to pay for an operation of the child from Vladivostok," Irina said. "We already know which hospital in St. Petersburg will be performing the surgery. And we will transfer the money to their account".

In the hospitable halls of the Cultural Center you could hear not just Russian, there were many Americans who were interested in Russian-American relations and wanted to participate in charitable and humanitarian actions.

One of them is Brian Calls who explains his interest: "I was educated in the U.S., in my mind I am an American, I grew up in Canada where my family lives, in my heart I am Canadian, but my life is devoted to Russian culture, in my soul I am Russian. Today's event is very important and I am happy that I can take part in it".


The legendary Russian hockey players Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Ovechkin from the Washington Capitals were among the dignitaries, and they were greeted with bread and salt by folk group "Scarlet Sails" from Russian school.

Most of the people who came to the charity event belong simultaneously to both Russia and America. Sergei Fedorov was not an exception. We asked him what he feels he is, American or Russian, and the famous hockey player replied:



"I went to Russia and had a training camp there for about five and a half weeks. Then when I came to America after that I felt that I was Russian, but then after the jet lag was gone I felt that I lived and worked here for such a long time, so its hard to say, but in general we give 99% to hockey and very little has left to ponder".

Despite the enormous lack of time the hockey stars took the time to visit a charitable event, they came here, as Alexander Ovechkin said, straight from the plane.



"This event is a very good thing, we feel very warm and comfortable, so we want to spend the time to be a part of it", said Alexander. "First of all its always something new to discover, second, you help people, you participate in philanthropy, and third, you meet a lot of new friends, a lot of interesting things happening, because we live in the sports world, and this is a world of culture here, and we all gathered together here."

Americans and Russians, artists and athletes, designers and musicians came to the charity campaign in the Russian Cultural Center in Washington. Perhaps Evgeny Davydov, a member of the New York club "Lomonosov", summed it up the best:

"We are united by one common idea, the idea of giving and good will".