The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. This is the challenge we face each time when asked to donate money to someone we don’t know. And a challenge for the Red Cross when asking Lithuanians to donate money.

Lithuanians are quick to give a helping hand to relatives, neighbors or someone who could be beneficial to us, but helping a stranger…

For the Red Cross organization, it is even a tougher call because usually they ask to donate not for a particular person or cause – but for everyone who will suddenly face a crisis.

This theme, about helping without looking for self-interest, has become an essential leitmotif for the spring campaign of the Red Cross, during which people can donate 1.2% of their personal income tax to charity organizations.

A fisherman on a frozen lake rushes to save a drowning man. But before giving him a helping hand, he begins to ask all kinds of questions, trying to understand if there will be any benefit for himself - is the drowning person rich or influential et cetera. And only when he finds out the poor man is a musician and could give music lessons to his daughter, the fisherman finally saves the drowning man.

The campaign helped Red Cross to achieve their goals and raised 10% more funds compared to previous years.