Instead of Christmas-Birthday gift to Julia, Support Natasha

This year, I would like to dedicate all Christmas and my Birthday (December 27) gifts to Natasha Kostyaeva, a wonderful human being that turned her life around a couple years ago and is trying to open a pet grooming business in Kirov, Russia. Due to corruption and bureaucracy, Natasha was denied a small business grant twice that she was counting on to purchase equipment and rent out space. Most essential purchase now for grooming that she was going to buy with the grant is a pet grooming bathtub, pictured above, $310 dollars total ($260 tub+ $50 delivery fee).

I can sent the funds to Natasha to purchase this equipment after collecting the total here. No amount of gift is too small!

**If you would like to read more about Natasha’s life story and why I think she deserves a chance at happiness, I’ve written a paragraph below.

Natasha was married to my biological father in Kirov, Russia, in late 2000s, which introduced a lot of abuse into her life. She was an alcoholic for almost a decade and after being diagnosed with diabetes, in the summer 2021, I organized her first ever trip out of the city to St. Petersburg, Russia. She didn’t drink for almost a week in St. Petersburg while we went to museums and did all the touristy things with her and her daughter (my sister), Nastya. Six months later, Natasha finally got sober and has been ever since. In the past two years that she has been sober, she was able to buy a studio and rented it out, gradually paying off mortgage, quit her stressful job as an accountant and graduated pet grooming school, while taking other small business classes. Natasha was also instrumental to convincing my dad and grandmother that my talented sister, Nastya, deserves a chance at better education than a small city like Kirov has to offer.

I am proud of Natasha for overcoming her addiction, taking control of her health and trying to better herself every day! I was in her shoes many times without a safety net, no one to rely on or turn to, but despite adversity, strived to crawl out of extreme poverty.

Thank you everyone for making this holiday time truly special:)