Retirees in Bulgaria are just over 2 million and the average pension is 198 euros a month. But the truth is that a huge percentage of Bulgarian pensioners live with less than half of that amount. Most of them live in economically declining areas, where villages with a population of less than 20 are common.

Today, however, we put aside the state's policy towards the elderly and meet Kiril Baldev – a 17-year-old young man who has been involved in charity activities for four years now. He has collected and donated books, organised bazaars, raised funds for a classmate injured in a car accident, but his latest two initiatives were aimed at retired and elderly lonely people.

“For Christmas, we were able to help people from 10 villages," Kiril says. Each retiree received a bag of essential food products. For Easter I also decided to start a campaign, I called it ‘Kozunak (Easter Bread) for every retiree’, because I think we should think of those elderly people and grandparents who are poor and lonely. Initially, 10 villages in Northwestern Bulgaria with 360 elderly people were included in the initiative, but there was a large wave of support and I decided to include another 10 villages in the Rhodope municipality, so we visited more than 700 people and brought them Kozunak.”

The young man manages to attract relatives, friends, classmates and strangers to his causes and more and more Bulgarians become part of his charitable ideas. Why did he choose to help retired elderly people?

“I chose them because I think more attention must be paid to these people and support must be provided to them with love. I believe that when a person does something good it should not happen only once or twice a year, but should be year-round activity. I would like people to be charitable not only during holidays. It has to come from the heart. There is a lot to be learned from these elderly people, because they have lived in Bulgaria for so many years. We can learn many stories about Bulgaria from the past. The elderly are important to me because, thanks to these people Bulgaria was built.”

Kiril's next initiative will take place on his birthday – May 23. Then he will announce new charity campaigns and will tell guests more about his ideas and himself. He has asked each guest to bring a book, which will be donated to community centers. Kiril also told us why he is genuinely pleased to help people:

“Because when you do, you see their smiles and gratitude and you know that these people will remember you. These are good things a person needs to do because one must leave something after them,” the young man says.

English: Alexander Markov