Raised:
USD $28,000
Campaign funds will be received by Lena Nepryntseva
As many of you know, I was born and raised in Ukraine and
lived there till the age of 23. Both of my parents as well as my brother and
his family are still in Ukraine in the city of Donetsk. Since Putin started the
full-scale war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the entire country is in chaos
and some parts are already in humanitarian crisis.
There are many official ways to donate to various international
organizations to support Ukraine. However, there are also many local organizations
and volunteers who are helping people during the war times reaching deeper into
the communities than big organizations can reach. They are providing food,
medication and shelter to the elderly in need, helping orphanages, helping
people who lost their homes etc. They are buying the food and supplies with their
own money or the money raised from people locally.
Because I have family in Ukraine, I have a way to reach
those local organizations and volunteers directly and to distribute the money
to where it’s needed most. This fundraiser is designed to raise money for those
local organizations that are boots on the ground and are trusted by the locals
and whom you cannot reach otherwise through official online sources.
At the moment, there is no way to transfer the money over there
and to take it out of the bank machines there. But the acute phase of the war
will be over at some point (hopefully soon) and by then, I will already have
this money ready to send over as soon as possible. There is and will be a huge
number of elderly and kids in need, and this money will help them as soon as
possible. All the money raised will go to support only humanitarian needs of people
who need them most. You’ll just have to trust my character and my judgement on
that, I’ll find a way.
Thank you for all your support! Truly appreciate it.
Lena
Lena - thank God you are organizing so successfully to help these poor people. What a horrible situation. Alla is really wonderful too. I all appreciate your reports and her pictures. I pray that 2025 will bring some peace.
Keep up the good work.
God bless all of you! Education of young children is so important and I know you will keep up this great work.
Thank you for your ceaseless efforts and all of the updates you share.
🙏🏻❤️🩹
I can only imagine what it is like to have your child unable to breathe and not be able to do anything about it. God bless you and your work!
December 25th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
Over the months of October and November, we delivered warm winter clothes for home, such as robes for women and pants and hoodie sets for men, to about 50 refugees living in various centralized refugee places on the occupied part of Donetsk Region.
These are new refugees which are coming from newly-occupied towns, such as Selydove and Kurakhove, which the Russian army recently destroyed. See pictures of Selydove at the end, which volunteer Alla sent to me, for a reference…
Some people refuse to follow Ukrainian authorities’ calls to evacuate from the places that are soon expected to be taken over by the Russians. It’s mostly the elderly. And when the Russian army comes, they “evacuate” them to refugee shelters on the occupied part of Donetsk region, because after takeover, there is nothing left of the towns, they become uninhabitable.
That evacuation is mostly done on motorcycles nowadays as Russians are running out of vehicles. So imagine that a person being evacuated can only take maybe one bag of stuff with them. Often times, people choose to take a pet – a cat or a dog – instead of the bag of stuff. You can only take either one due to space constraints. So people come to the shelters with nothing left from their old normal life. By the way, what would you take with you in such situation?
The shelters only provide basic cuts for sleep and basic food – mostly grains and potatoes. So most of the supplies are provided by volunteers who collect funds from local people. Needless to say, shelters are poorly heated, so as cold winter approached, refugees needed warm home clothes, which we bought for them.
I encourage you to look at the living conditions on the background… All these people had a home just a year ago… It’s kind of humbling to look at that, especially this holiday season – makes you appreciate even more what we all have… And we are sharing what we have with those people in need. We don’t have to do it, none of us has to – we all chose to, because we believe in helping others less fortunate. We believe in spreading the good, no matter what.
Thank you all so much for that! Appreciate each and every one of you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May you and your loved ones be happy this holiday season and in the new year ahead!
November 23rd, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As I mentioned in my Updates #60 and #61, over the month of September, we delivered back-to-school kits to children in need on the Russian-occupied territories of Donetsk Region. The kits contain some pencils, markers, special school notebooks etc. Volunteer Alla purchased about 200 total kits for about 200 total kids!
I already shared pictures of the refugee kids living in centralized refugee places and disabled kids in Mariupol who received our presents in my last 2 Updates. And here are the photos of kids living in various villages and small towns close to the frontlines in so-called “Red Zone” – these places are being shelled daily, they have no electricity or running water, no phone or Internet connection.
These are the hardest places to get to, because volunteers have to get a special authorization to go through the military checkpoints and have to be escorted by the military. Needless to say, it’s extremely dangerous to go to those places, so it’s extremely rare that volunteers get there which means those people are in dire need. But Alla and her husband managed to deliver our kits to these kids.
You may be wondering how it is possible that there are still schools functioning in the “Red Zone” villages and towns. Well, they are not. Also, online education is not available as they have no Internet. But what they do is – once a month go to a school in an assigned nearby town in a safer zone and submit their homework to the assigned teacher there and get new assignments for the month – that’s how the locals are trying to keep these kids at least somewhat educated...
This concludes my report about back-to-school supplies for the kids in need on Russian-occupied territories. We are now working on helping people in need on these territories to survive the upcoming cold winter. So more Updates to follow…
Thank you all once again for your tremendous support!
November 19th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
First of all, I wanted to share that today marks exactly 1000 days of the full-scale Russian invasion to Ukraine, but if you count the war to annex Crimea and Donbass, then it's been 10 years… I can't believe that sometimes Americans ask me if the war in Ukraine is still ongoing... Yes, it is, and people are still dying every day, including civilians, kids and military, many of whom are not even professional military, but those who chose to go defend their country.
But back to the report, as I mentioned in my Update #60, over the month of September, we delivered back-to-school kits to children in need on the Russian-occupied territories of Donetsk Region. The kits contain some pencils, markers, special school notebooks etc. Volunteer Alla purchased about 200 total kits for about 200 total kids!
I shared pictures of the refugee kids living in central refugee places who received our presents in my last Update #60. And these photos of kids with various disabilities in half-destroyed Mariupol, who received our kits. Often times, families with disabled kids don’t have a father – because father tend to abandon mothers when they have disabled children. So those families are literally barely surviving… especially during the war. And yes, disabled kids also attend schools online over there, more like home-schooling, they receive special assignments for their level of ability.
More pictures of back-to-school kits for kids living near the fighting frontlines to follow in my next update. And we are now working on helping people in need on the Russian-occupied territories to survive upcoming cold winter. So more updates to follow…
Thank you all once again for your tremendous support!
November 11th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
Over the month of September, we delivered back-to-school kits to children in need on the Russian-occupied territories of Donetsk Region. The kits contain some pencils, markers, special school notebooks etc. Look at how many kits Alla purchased – about 200 total for about 200 total kids!
These photos are of refugee kids who received our presents. All of them lost their homes and now live in centralized refugee camps in either schools, dorms, sports centers etc. or in houses with their relatives or neighbors. Many of them lost their fathers in war, some lost both parents and now live with grandparents. Even in these circumstances, their parents and grandparents want their kids to go to school, but many of them don’t even have money to purchase school supplies now…
More pictures of back-to-school kits for disabled kids in Mariupol and for kids living near the fighting frontlines to follow in my next updates.
And we are now working on helping people in need on the Russian-occupied territories to survive upcoming cold winter. So more updates to follow…
Thank you all once again for your tremendous support!
September 15th, 2024
As I’ve mentioned in the previous Update 58, in June, around International Children’s Day (also known as Children Protection Day) celebrated on June 1, we organized several events for refugee kids on the Russia-occupied territories of my home Donetsk Region.
We bought 110 kilograms of chocolates and some other smaller items such as notepads, pens etc. Volunteer Alla and her husband packed everything into individual gift bags and then distributed to several towns and villages to a total of about 200 refugee kids! For some places, we also hired kids entertainers in fun costumes and served cakes etc.
In Part 1, I already covered the village of Mykolaivka with refugee kids from town of Lyman which was destroyed last year, town of Volnovakha with refugee kids from villages on the frontlines, and kids from the town of Soledar, which was also destroyed last year, now living in a refugee center in the town of Ilovaisk.
In this final part, Part 2, I am attaching photos from of following:
1) Kids with various disabilities from Mariupol. You may remember that this big city with almost half a million population was severely damaged at the beginning of the war 2.5 years ago with 80% of buildings damaged or destroyed. The population of this city now is at best half of what it was and it’s estimated that around 50,000 people died during the Russian takeover of the city. Hard to say as it’s currently occupied by Russia and we won’t know the truth until it’s liberated.
2) Refugee center in town of Shakhtars'k – most refugees there are from the town of Bakhmut which was erased from the face of Earth last year by the Russian army. Hard to imagine what those kids have been through, but look at their faces – we made them smile :) Note the exterior of their refugee center, former college dorm building, where they now live… You can imagine what the interior looks like. But at least they have a roof over their head. All these kids used to live in normal houses and apartments in Bakhmut…
3) Kids from different places living in a central refugee place in a town of Yenakieve. We organized a celebration for them inside a children’s entertainment center in the town – rented it for a few hours. Again, all these kids don’t have homes anymore and live in a refugee place. But we put a smile on their faces :)
So in June, we helped about 200 total refugee kids in different locations. We gave all these kids a gift of normalcy, happiness and fun. We can only imagine what these kids have been through... But we put smiles on their faces.
August 25th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
It’s been 2 months since my last Update, as I was taking a summer break from all this, as usual. But our work hasn’t stopped. In June, around International Children’s Day (also known as Children Protection Day) celebrated on June 1, we organized several events for refugee kids on the occupied territories of my home Donetsk region.
We bought 110 kilograms of chocolates and some other smaller items such as notepads, pens etc. Alla and her husband packed everything into individual gift bags and then distributed to several towns and villages to a total of about 200 refugee kids!
As we did a lot of work, I will divide this into 2 Updates. This one covers the following:
1) Village of Mykolaivka with refugee kids and their parents from town of Lyman which was destroyed last year. 8-10 people live in each small house there. Many still have Ukrainian documents, so receive absolutely no humanitarian help from Russia. We distributed chocolates, fresh strawberries and balloons. The kids said no one ever organized a celebrations like this for them before and they were really happy.
2) Town of Volnovakha – refugee kids from villages on the frontlines. We gathered them all in one place and gave them chocolates and other small gifts.
3) Kids from town of Soledar which was also destroyed last year, now living in a refugee center in town of ilovaisk.
Again, we gave all these kids a gift of normalcy, happiness and fun. We can only imagine what these kids have been through... But we put smiles on their faces.
Thank you all once again for your tremendous support!
June 22nd, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
Ukrainian Orthodox Easter was on May 5 this year. So over the month of May, volunteers Alla and her husband have done tremendous amount of work buying and distributing 1800 Ukrainian traditional Easter buns and 1100 painted Easter eggs to about 1000 total people in need on the occupied territories. Those people included about 200 people in severely damaged town of Novolughanske on the frontlines, about 300 people (100 families) in Mariupol and about 500 refugees in 11 different centralized refugee places. And we all sponsored all that through this Fundraiser!
I already updated you all on Novolughanske and Mariupol in my Updates #55 and #56, and here are the pictures from various refugee places on the occupied territories. We brought Easter buns and eggs to 11 such places, to about 500 people total. These places are former gyms, schools, college dorms etc. Most people are refugees from Bakhmut occupied last year and from recently occupied Avdiivka near Donetsk. Both, Bakhmut and Avdiivka, have been leveled to the ground by the Russian troops.
As I mentioned in my prior updates, most people leave the refugee camps within 2-3 months – they either move somewhere else or find a low-paying job on the occupied territories and often start renting a room or apartment with other families etc as all these people lost their homes completely. No one wants to stay in the refugee places. But elderly and families with kids often can’t afford even to rent a room.
Moreover, the real issue becomes when the refugee lost his/her ID documents, which is very common when your home has been destroyed. Then they can’t go anywhere, can’t even get a job. And to restore their identity, they have to go to a local court and that takes months, then getting new Russian documents takes months after the identity has been confirmed.
As I said before, the local government barely provides food to the refugee places (some grains etc) let alone some bedding and necessities. So these people mostly survive because of local volunteers like Alla and her husband who gather donations from other locals and bring food and necessities to them.
These traditional Ukrainian Easter buns and eggs are not a necessity, of course. But they are also not just celebration of Easter for those people in need. They represent so much more – this is what they are used to doing for Easter for years since childhood, and so it brings them a sense of normalcy and stability. Also, Easter is a great holiday which gives hope. And of course, Easter buns and eggs are so colorful and cheerful, which also helps to lift the spirits.
Alla always says that people appreciate so much that they are not forgotten, that someone is thinking of them. And look at these kids faces – they are happy! WE made them happy. Even if for a day. But after all they’ve been through, it definitely counts…
Thank you all once again for your tremendous support!
June 9th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
Ukrainian Orthodox Easter was on May 5 this year. So over the month of May, Alla and her husband have done tremendous amount of work buying and distributing 1800 Ukrainian traditional Easter buns and 1100 painted Easter eggs to about 1000 total people in need – refugees and those living close to the frontlines! And we all sponsored all that through this Fundraiser.
These traditional Ukrainian Easter buns and eggs are not just celebration of Easter for those people in need. They represent so much more – this is what they are used to doing for Easter for years since childhood, and so it brings a sense of normalcy and stability to their lives. Also, Easter is a great holiday which gives hope. And of course Easter buns and eggs are so colorful and cheerful, which also helps to lift the spirits. Alla always says that people appreciate so much that they are not forgotten, that someone is thinking of them. As of course the local authorities on the occupied territories don’t help at all.
As part of the effort, we distributed Easter buns to about 100 families in Mariupol. As a reminder – that’s the biggest city of the ones Russia managed to take over during this war, which had almost 500,000 population, but 80% of the buildings were damaged or destroyed during the takeover and the number of casualties cannot be confirmed until de-occupation, but estimated anywhere around 50,000 civilians… Currently, the population of Mariupol is estimated at about half of what it used to be before the war.
These 100 families have been through a lot and either have disabled children or lost their homes. Russian propaganda shows on the news how the Mariupol is being rebuilt, while the reality is – they only built a few new apartment buildings and are showing those again and again. So people who lost their homes are sharing small apartments with several families or their friends and neighbors who let them in.
Moreover, what is happening now in Mariupol is that Russian companies that won the government bidding process for rebuilding Mariupol are hiring locals offering them relatively good salaries (about 500 USD), but after a person worked for a month or two doing hard construction labor, they only pay an equivalent $100 or so. Therefore, they are taking advantage of these people who already have been through a lot because of Russia. The lack of moral values is just mind-boggling. Just when you think the moral standards can’t get any lower – they do…
But look at these faces – people are happy! Maybe for that hour or that day, but they are happy. WE made them happy. I think it’s gotta be good karma for all of us.
Sometimes looking at these pictures, it may seem like these people live in a normal city in normal conditions as it looks like a normal sunny spring day in a park... But don’t be misled - just a few blocks away – this is what Mariupol looks like still…
Another Update with Easter pictures from centralized refugee places to follow soon. Thank you all for your continued support! It’s truly amazing what we’ve been able to accomplish over these 2 years!
May 25th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
Ukrainian Orthodox Easter was on May 5 this year. So over the month of May, Alla and her husband have done tremendous amount of work buying and distributing 1800 Ukrainian traditional Easter buns and 1100 painted Easter eggs to about 1000 total people in need – refugees and those living close to the frontlines! And we all sponsored all of that through this Fundraiser.
You should understand that these traditional Ukrainian Easter buns and eggs are not just celebration of Easter for those people. They represent so much more – this is what they are used to doing for Easter for years since childhood, and so it brings a sense of normalcy and stability to their lives. Also, Easter is a great holiday which gives hope and of course Easter buns and eggs are so colorful and cheerful, which also helps to lift the spirit. Plus, Alla always says that people appreciate so much that they are not forgotten, that someone is thinking of them. As of course the authorities on the occupied territories don’t help at all.
We distributed many of the Easter buns in Novoluhanske – the town on the frontlines you all already know. It had a population of about 4000 people before the full-scale war, then had about 200 people left when we organized 4 full car loads of humanitarian help for it back in October. Well, now Alla is saying only 170 people are left there, including 23 kids – some got killed by constant shelling, some died of natural causes and some left. The town has been without power or running water for 2 years now – they lost both shortly after the full-scale invasion began. There is also no cell reception, no stores, no pharmacies, no doctors. And Alla says local volunteers are afraid to go there too because of the constant shelling, so she and her husband are the only ones bringing food and other help. Other than that, locals organize some trips to nearby towns to get stuff once in a while.
Here are some pictures of giving out Easter buns to the people of Novolughanske. Alla also brought them some food packages, but those are sponsored by the local donors from Donetsk and area, she only asks me for money when she can’t collect enough from the locals – so we sponsored all Easter buns and eggs.
More Easter pictures from other places to come in future Updates. Thank you all for your continued support! It’s truly amazing what we’ve been able to achieve over these 2 years!
May 12th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As I mentioned in my previous Update, in March and April, we purchased 100 total bedding sets for refugees from Bakhmut living in a centralized refugee camp on the occupied territories as well as for people living in the town of Novolughanske on the occupied territory close to the frontlines.
See Update 53 for the report about bedding for Novolughanske. This Update is about distributing the remainder of 100 total bedding sets to the refugees from Bakhmut now living in centralized refugee camp located in a former college dorm in the town of Chistyakove (former Torez) on the occupied part of the Donetsk Region.
All these people are in tremendous need. Some lost not only their homes, but even their ID documents. Russian authorities on the occupied territories are not helping them. All they do is hang Russian flags and portraits of putin everywhere in the refugee camps to mark their territory. But they provide no financial or humanitarian aid. People are able to survive only because of the local volunteers like Alla. She received numerous requests for basic bedding from those people as often they sleep on old jackets etc without even normal bedding. But the money she collects from local donations is only enough to buy some food, so she asked me to help with bedding from the fundraiser funds.
Alla said - for once, these people felt like they are not forgotten. They were so happy!
Thank you all for your continued support! We keep on making a difference!
May 4th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
In March and April, we purchased 100 bedding sets for refugees living in centralized refugee places on the occupied territories as well as for people living in the town of Novolughanske on the occupied territory close to the frontlines.
As you may remember, last October, we organized whole 4 trips with humanitarian help to the town of Novoluhanske in Donetsk Region bringing various necessities such as food, warm clothes, blankets, hygiene items, pallet stoves etc to the people remaining in the town, which had a population of about 4000 people before the full-scale war, and now only has about 200 people left in it. The town has been without power or running water for almost 2 years now – they lost both shortly after the full-scale invasion began. There is also no cell reception, no stores, no pharmacies, no doctors. People are literally surviving there. Many of those people live in terrible conditions – sleeping on old jackets etc, they no longer have basic bedding sets as their homes were damaged or destroyed.
Russian authorities are not helping those people. All they do is hang Russian flags and portraits of putin everywhere to mark their ground. But they provide no financial or humanitarian help. People are able to survive only because of the local volunteers like Alla. She received numerous requests for basic bedding sets from those people, but the money she collects from local donations is only enough to buy some food, so she asked me to help from the fundraiser funds.
We distributed many bedding sets to the people of Novoluganske.
Thank you all for your continued support! We keep on making a difference.
April 16th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
Also in March, we purchased another 10 nebulizers and distributed them to kids in Mariupol. As a reminder, Mariupol is a city of almost half a million population, which was severely damaged when Russia was taking it over – 80% of all buildings in the city were damaged, some irreparably.
The population had to hide in unheated unfinished building basements from constant shelling, often for months, so adults and children are now suffering from chronic lung conditions, such as asthma, chronic bronchitis etc. Sometimes kids get spasms in bronchus and literally can’t breathe. So nebulizers are literally life-savers over there, but not many can afford them…
All the parents were thanking us. Thank you all once again, we are making a difference. Maybe a small one in the big scheme of things, but for a mother whose child is suffocating, being able to provide them with some relief with the nebulizer is a big difference.
April 1st, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
Over the month of March we purchased 20 nebulizers and distributed them to refugee kids on the occupied territories of Donetsk Region. Some of these refugees live in centralized refugee places (former college dorms, fitness centers, schools etc), some are sharing housing with people who let them live in their homes.
Volunteer Alla has been getting numerous requests for nebulizers throughout winter. As you know, many refugees had to hide in unheated unfinished basements of big apartment buildings during bombings in different cities. Often they had to hide for months, so both, adults and children, are now suffering from chronic lung conditions, such as asthma, chronic bronchitis etc. And on top of hiding in unfinished basements, the air quality is non-existent over there due to daily explosions, burning etc. Plus of course there is chronic stress, and according to Alla, sometimes children start having these issues after a months or even years after they’ve been rescued from those cold humid moldy basements. Sometimes kids get these spasms in bronchus and literally can’t breathe. So nebulizers are literally life-savers. But not many can afford them…
Please see attached pictures of the 20 nebulizers we bought and distributed, other humanitarian help such as hygiene items etc is from the locals who support Alla’s efforts, but the nebulizers are ours as those are expensive items and Alla had to ask me for funds. Some of these kids have disabilities, some lost their ability to speak because of the war stress (it’s actually quite common that kids stop talking after starting to before the war), some lost their fathers in the war, some – both parents and only have grandparents now. All lost their homes...
All parents were thanking us, some even crying. Thank you all once again, we are making a difference. Maybe a small one in the big scheme of things, but for a mother who sees her child suffocating and then is able to offer them a relief with the nebulizer, it is a big difference.
February 18th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As part of playing a Santa Clause role during the holiday season, we also delivered a chocolate bar and a tangerine to each of the 150 elderly and disabled living in a nursing home in badly damaged city of Mariupol. Some of them have been living there since before the war, some got there because they lost their homes and lost their families.
Alla couldn’t take many pictures, because by law, if the elderly still have family members, you can only take pictures with the family members’ consent. So the people in these pictures do not have any family members left.
Thank you all once again for all your massive support, we were able to accomplish so much during this holiday season!
February 11th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
And to finally wrap up my numerous Updates on delivering holiday presents to about 300 kids total in December and January, here are the photos of distributing presents to the village of Svobodne close to the frontlines. As all villages and towns on the frontlines, it is very damaged with many homes destroyed and is being shelled almost daily/nightly. Alla and her husband drove there in January and distributed presents to the village kids from their car. Look at how happy they are :)
Thank you all once again for all your massive support, we were able to accomplish so much during this holiday season!
February 10th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
Here are the remaining photos of delivering holiday presents to about 300 kids total in December and January. These are kids who lost their homes now living in various dorms, schools, other people’s homes etc in different towns on the occupied territory. They are refugees from different cities in Donetsk region and surrounding areas. Most of them have one parent left, usually mother, some – grandparents only. All of them are under Alla’s oversight so to speak – meaning she’s helped them before and knows their stories and is trying to help more whenever possible.
Thank you all once again for all your support!
February 7th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As part of delivering holiday presents to about 300 kids in December and January, we organized a holiday celebration for refugee kids from the city of Lyman not far from Bakhmut which was also destroyed.
These kids are now living in the town of Yenakijeve in a former college dorm. We were planning to organize the celebration in the dorm, but for some reason the administration of the dorm refused to let us host it. So Alla had to scramble to find a place and was lucky that the city of Yenakijeve administration allowed them to use a kids play center in the city for free for 1.5 hrs. That’s where we ended up hosting the celebration.
Again, we gave these kids that have been through a lot a few hours of joy and happiness. And hopefully more than just a few hours, because hopefully they won’t eat their entire boxes of chocolates in a few hours, but save them for a few days )) By the way, you can see Alla's husband acting as a Santa Claus with boxes of chocolates in the last photo ))
Thank you all once again for all your support! I have a couple more holiday Updates to report on… We were busy this holiday season!
February 4th, 2024
As part of delivering holiday presents to about 300 kids in December and January, we organized a holiday celebration for refugee kids from the completely destroyed city of Bakhmut. They are now living in the town of Shakhtars'k in a former college dorm. That’s where we organized the celebration. Most of them have only mothers left, their father died in this war. You can see their moms taking pictures in the back. Some only have grandparents left, both parents were killed, for example, the two little boys, brothers, in the last photo. And by the way, you can see volunteer Alla with them in the last photo as well as in the third picture on the top left. But despite everything these kids have been through, they look happy in these pictures and that’s a great accomplishment for all of us…
January 28th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As part of delivering holiday presents to about 300 kids in December and January, we also delivered presents to a village of Olghinka near the frontlines on the occupied part of Donetsk Region. As all villages close to the frontlines, it’s being constantly shelled and is severely damaged. We distributed part of the presents through a village church, and part – personally to their homes. Please see attached pictures.
Thank you all once again for all your support! We are making this world a little better… More holiday Updates to follow very soon…
January 28th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As you remember, over the holidays, we were able to provide gifts to about 300 kids in different towns and villages on the Russian-occupied territories.
As part of the effort, we organized 2 celebrations with presents and holiday characters for kids with disabilities in Mariupol. I showed you the first one in my last update. Here is celebration #2. We did it in a different location in the city, more convenient for the other part of kids and parents.
As you may recall, Mariupol was a city of almost half a million people, which was severely damaged during the war – 80% of buildings in the city were damaged, many – completely destroyed. It is estimated that 30,000-50,000 died in Mariupol during the war, but we can’t tell for sure as it is under occupation. Heat and electricity has been restored in most of the city, but there is still a lot of damage and many people live in bad conditions, often several families in one apartment etc. Not to mention what these adults and kids have been through living in basements of half-destroyed buildings without heat or water, making water from snow and burning wood for heat while being shelled day and night. This is the city that became famous for the cemeteries in apartment courtyards – it was too dangerous to bring those killed people to the actual cemeteries outside of the city, so they buried them wherever they could...
So remember all that when you are looking at these pictures of kids and their parents… We brought some happiness into their lives.
Thank you all once again for all your support! We are making this world a little better… More holiday Updates to follow very soon…
January 23rd, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As you remember, over the holidays, we were able to provide gifts to about 300 kids in different towns and villages on the Russia-occupied territories. That’s a lot!
As part of the effort, we organized two celebrations with presents and holiday characters for kids with disabilities in Mariupol. Here is the first one.
As you may recall, Mariupol was a city of almost half a million people, which was severely damaged during the war – 80% of buildings in the city were damaged, many – completely destroyed. It is estimated that 30,000-50,000 died in Mariupol during the war, but we can’t tell for sure as it is under occupation. Heat and electricity has been restored in most of the city, but there is still a lot of damage and many people live in bad conditions, often several families in one apartment etc. Not to mention what these adults and kids have been through living in basements of half-destroyed buildings without heat or water, making water from snow and burning wood for heat while being shelled day and night. This is the city that became famous for the cemeteries in apartment courtyards – it was too dangerous to bring those killed people to the actual cemeteries outside of the city.
So remember all that when you are looking at these pictures and videos of the kids and their parents… Look at how happy they are, especially in the videos ))
January 21st, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As I reported in my last update, we started delivering holiday presents back in December and continued into January. Overall, we were able to provide gifts to about 300 kids in different towns and villages! That’s a lot!
Also from my last update you remember that in December, we organized a little Holiday giveaway of presents for the kids in Novoluganske. As it is very dangerous to gather many people in one place and strongly advised against (a missile may hit it and there would be many casualties), some people decided not to come and not to bring their children. So for those, we were able to organize additional home delivery recently in January, and we even got a Santa Claus to deliver the presents )) It was very hard to do as no one wants to go to that town (yes, not even Santa Claus!) – it’s too close to the frontlines and too dangerous. But Alla worked her magic.
Look at the faces of these kids – they are happy, even if for a day… You can see broken windows and plywood, and bad living conditions on the background. The town had a population of about 4,000 people before the full-scale war and now has about 200 people left there. Most buildings are damaged and have had no electricity, heat or running water for almost 2 years…
Thank you all once again for all your support! We are making this world a little better… More Updates to follow very soon…
January 15th, 2024
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
Hope you all had a great holiday season! I will begin providing Updates on the Holiday presents and celebrations we organized for refugee kids as well as kids in the most affected by the war areas on the occupied territories over the Holidays. We started back in December and continued into January. Overall, we were able to provide gifts to about 300 kids in different towns and villages. We bought thermo-mugs, various bags of chocolates and candy, and mandarins. Alla and her husband were very busy in the past couple of months!
As you may remember from my Updates 37, 38 and 39, back in October, we organized 4 trips with humanitarian help to the town called Novoluhanske on the occupied territory of Donetsk Region bringing various necessities such as food, warm clothes, blankets, hygiene items, plastic film, pallet stoves etc. The town had a population of about 4,000 people before the full-scale war and now has about 200 people left there. Most buildings are damaged.
In December, we organized a little Holiday giveaway of presents for the kids in Novoluganske. It is very dangerous to gather many people in one place and strongly advised against (as a missile may hit it and there would be many casualties). But we still decided to do it very quickly and it all went well – the kids and their parents were so happy to receive the presents! A little sense of normalcy and holiday spirit for them.
Thank you all once again for all your support! We are making this World a little better… More Holiday Updates to follow very soon…
December 29th, 2023
Dear Fundraiser supporters,
In the beginning of December, we delivered food packages to a village of Yevhenivka in Donetsk Region. You may remember from my Update #21 that we delivered a generator to this village back in March of this year (see attached photos as a reminder). We even received a thank-you message from the people in the village later on saying how happy they are that they now have the ability to get drinking water from the well. The generator is still working, by the way.
As a reminder, the village has been on the frontlines since the war started almost 2 years ago. They lost running water, electricity and gas as well as Internet about 2 years ago as well. And there is no way to restore it as the village is still right near the fighting line and being shelled almost daily. The cell reception is very spotty and sometimes no reception at all for several days and even weeks.
The population of the village used to be about 1000 people, but most either left or got killed... There are currently less than 100 people living in the village, including some families with kids. Because many houses have been destroyed, the remaining locals live together in the remaining few houses, most also damaged, often - several families in each.
There are 25 families total, therefore we delivered 25 food packages, each of these costs about $20, so we spent about $500 total. As you can see – your dollars go a long way over there - just by looking at the package contents, I think it would cost around $60 here in the US.
Volunteer Alla said they always make sure the packages are good to last a family for about a month as they never know when and if they’ll be able to get there again – the village is under constant shelling and often times you can’t even get to it – military personnel won’t let you through checkpoints.
See attached pics. I think the last one of a boy sitting on the floor is most heartbreaking. You can see it all in his eyes – constant daily/nightly shelling. What kind of life is it? Especially for a child… Reminds me of Greta Thunberg with her "stolen childhood"… This is what stolen childhood looks like. He almost has a mature look in his eyes, definitely older than his age.
Maybe you heard that last night Ukraine was subjected to the largest missile attack since the beginning of the war – about 100 various types of missiles were launched onto many different cities, they hit shopping centers, hospitals, residential buildings etc. Preliminarily, about 100 people were either dead or injured, but the numbers are still being updated. A Happy Holidays wish from Russia to Ukrainians right before the New Year…
Thank you all once again for all your support over these 2 years. Maybe we can’t stop the war, but we are making these people’s lives a little better and spreading some good and kindness around, some light and hope in their total darkness…
We’ve been working on distributing Christmas presents to the refugee kids and kids in heavily affected areas of Donetsk Region, as well as to the elderly in a nursing home in Mariupol. Updates to follow soon…
Merry Christmas and Happy New to all of you! And may 2024 be a better year for you all! Thank you once again!
December 5th, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As I wrote in my Update 37 and 38, back in October, we organized 4 trips with humanitarian help to the town called Novoluhanske in Donetsk Region bringing various necessities such as food, warm clothes, blankets, hygiene items, shoes etc to the people and kids remaining in the town, which had a population of about 4,000 people before the full-scale war and now has about 200 people left there. We helped all of them somewhat.
The town has been without power and running water for over 1.5 years now – ever since it got occupied at the beginning of the full-scale war. So besides food and necessities, the people there are in dire need of the source of heat for the winter. We delivered 17 pallet stoves to them. They said they will find firewood themselves, just needed the stoves. We also delivered a few camping gas stoves for people to cook on.
I bet you didn’t know what plastic films is for… Well, when there is a nearby explosion, even if it doesn’t hit the building directly, often times the windows get shattered just from the air/sound waves. And when that happens, obviously, there is no way to replace the window, so locals use construction-grade plastic film to cover the broken window. The plastic lets some light in while protecting against the cold air entering the apartment. The film is always in high demand near frontlines and the price of it has doubled from what it was before the war, Alla said.
Alla also said many of these people came back from refugee camps in dorms and schools as they couldn’t live in big rooms with multiple people sleeping on the floor and poor amenities… They prefer to stay in their own home even if without power or water, but at least it’s their home. Of course, most are elderly, but some are families with kids.
And we are still preparing to do the Christmas presents for kids in refugee camps and elderly this year like we did last year. There are now about 150 total kids under Alla’s watch in different refugee locations and about 70 elderly in the nursing home in Mariupol. Thank you to those who already contributed and if anyone else wants to contribute to this effort – please do so.
Thank you all once again for all your support! It may not seem like a lot to you, but for those people it’s how they survive…
November 22nd, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As I wrote in my Update 37, in October, we organized 4 trips with humanitarian help to the town called Novoluhanske in Donetsk Region. Alla and her husband made those 4 trips with a fully packed up car bringing various necessities such as food, warm clothes, blankets, hygiene items, shoes etc to the people and kids remaining in the town, which had a population of about 4,000 people before the full-scale war and now has about 200 people left there. We helped all of them… The town has been without power or running water for over 1.5 years now…
Majority of the contents of those 4 cars were purchased with our Fundraiser funds and some – with the money Alla collected from the locals in Donetsk region and people in Russia and Ukraine – just regular people who are trying to help others over there, as there is no international non-profit or Ukrainian government help on the occupied territories.
I am attaching pictures and videos of the food packages as well as other items we distributed to the people who still live there. The kids in one photo are giving you all a heart )) To these people even a loaf of bread brings so much joy! Hard to believe that they had a normal life just a couple years ago…
And remember how we did little Christmas gifts of thermos mugs and candy for the refugee kids living in refugee places as well as in Mariupol and for the elderly in a nursing home in Mariupol last year? And how much holiday cheer we were able to spread? We are already planning and preparing to do it this year too. To give these kids and elderly some sense of normalcy and hope that things will get back to normal some day… There are now about 150 total kids under Alla’s watch in different refugee locations and about 70 elderly in the nursing home in Mariupol. If anyone wants to contribute to this effort – please do so.
Thank you all once again for all your support! And Happy Thanksgiving!
November 10th, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
In October, we organized whole 4 trips with humanitarian help to the town called Novoluhanske in Donetsk Region. Alla and her husband made those 4 trips with a fully loaded car bringing various necessities such as food, warm clothes, blankets, hygiene items etc to the people remaining in the town which had population of about 4000 people before full-scale war and now has about 200 people left there, we helped all of them… The town has been without power or running water for 1.5 years now…
Most of the contents of those 4 cars were purchased with out Fundraiser funds and some – with the money Alla collected from the locals and people in Russia and Ukraine – just regular people who are trying to help over there, as there is no international non-profit or government help that goes to this town or others on the occupied part.
Before the full-scale war which started on February 24, 2022, the town was on the Ukrainian side but near the frontlines of the 1st war that started in 2014. See the attached map – the purplish part was occupied before 2022 and the orange where the town is now – after Feb 2022. When Russia was taking the town over during the full-scale war, it pretty much destroyed it like many others they took over. And even now the town and the area close to it is being constantly shelled - as you can see, it is close to Bakhmut, Kurdumivka and other towns which where active fighting is right now.
Alla sent me so many photos and videos from those 4 trips that I decided to divide them into 3 parts. This is the first one – the road to Novoluhanske and what town is like right now. This is for you all to realize the gravity of the situation and the conditions the locals live in now… I’ll send pictures and videos of distributing the help in the next updates.
I am showing you all this so you all understand – this is real. It is happening right now as I am writing this and you all are reading this. In 21st Century, in Europe. This is how some people live right now. This is what Russia brought to Ukraine. And the explosions nearby while you are driving – that is unbelievable too, but is also real. And many people hear and see this every day. Fast forwarding ahead, people were sooo grateful to us for all the help as their living conditions are just terrible.
And at the end I am attaching pictures of the food package contents, fresh yogurts and warm underwear as well as a fully packed car.
Alla mentioned that unfortunately it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get money or other donations from the locals and people in Ukraine and Russia – as the war goes on, people get tired of it and move on to other things, plus of course people’s incomes deteriorate and they are unable to donate as much. I heard the same thing from my other volunteer partner Svetlana in Kherson on the Ukrainian side. It’s understandable that people move on to other things, but for the people affected by the war it’s far from over. Therefore I am thanking you all once again for all your continued support.
Remember how we did little Christmas gifts of thermos mugs and candy for the refugee kids living in central refugee places as well as in Mariupol and elderly in a nursing home in Mariupol last year? And how much happiness we were able to spread? Pics also attached. We are already planning and preparing to do it this year too. To give these kids and elderly some sense of normalcy and hope that things will get back to normal some day… There are now about 150 total kids under Alla’s watch in different refugee locations and about 70 elderly in the nursing home in Mariupol. If anyone wants to contribute to this effort – please do so.
Thank you all once again!
October 22nd, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
I am always a bit confused and torn how to write these types of updates on individual help to certain people in Donetsk and region – how much detail and photos to include. When I write about helping people “in bulk” – refugees etc, I summarize it and it becomes less personal, less painful, which I think is good. Of course, each of those people has a heart-braking story about losing their home, their loved ones, sitting in basement under shelling for day and months with no power or drinking water etc. But I don’t collect those stories and I just write a summary – we helped that many people who lost their homes. When I get to these individual updates, I feel like I should provide more detail, but not sure it’s a good idea as I don’t want to use an approach widely used by hospitals, cancer research centers etc of showing the most heart-braking photos – I just personally don’t like that approach. So it’s difficult for me to find a balance here and I choose to go without photos with short description.
My mom is in charge of individual help – she vets everything and sends me all the links, documents etc. But I don’t want to share too much here while I do want to report about what we did with the Fundraiser funds. So I try to keep it short while providing enough information. In the past couple of months, we helped the following people:
1) A woman, Inna, died from shelling in Donetsk, she had 2 kids, we helped with some money.
2) A 6 year old boy Kirill and his 3 year old sister Arina died in a car accident in Donetsk, locals were raising money to help the family.
3) A man from a suburb of Donetsk called Yasynuvata – a volunteer who was helping families with children near the frontlines was injured while doing that and lost his arm. He has 2 kids himself. Locals were raising money to help him and his family,
4) A mother in Donetsk with severe stage IV breast cancer, pretty much no hope for her. Her teenage son is taking care of her as they have no other family left, he needed adult diapers for her etc. Locals were helping to raise money.
5) A 4 year old Veronika died from shelling in Donetsk. Locals were raising money for her family.
It’s interesting how my donors reply to me saying they can really relate to some particular things – some have cancer personally or in the family and are struggling through that and can’t imagine how it would be to deal with it during a war; some have kids with disabilities and can relate most to the updates when we helped kids with disabilities and their mothers; some had paralyzed elderly parents and relate most to distributing adult diapers; some have asthma and can relate to the need for nebulizer. We all have our pains, sometimes hidden so people around us don’t even know about them. I like hearing all of your stories, love hearing all the feedback you send me, so please feel free to share.
Also, I want to particularly thank you all for your continued support, because many of you are in Real Estate industry and this year has been very bad for all of us financially. So your support is even more appreciated. Hopefully, next year will be much better for all of us in Real Estate and… hopefully next year I won’t need to ask you all to help Ukraine anymore because the war is over :) Wouldn’t that be nice?.. :)
October 8th, 2023
My Ukraine Fundraiser – Update #35 – Adult diapers for Kherson
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As you may recall, back in June we had collected and transferred $2,700 total (or $100,000 Ukrainian hryvna) to volunteer Svetlana in flooded Kherson Region (due to the Kakhovka Dam collapse caused by the Russian occupants on June 6).
I already reported on 20,000 hryvna in my Update #31 back in July – Svetlana sent it to volunteers on the Left Banks of Kherson (the Russian-occupied territory) where the donations could not reach otherwise, while the Left Bank was flooded even more than the right one due to the lower elevation. I am attaching those photos here too (the first 2) with necessities and an old used generator that was purchased for that money – now Svetlana made a nice collage with those.
The remaining 80,000 hryvna Svetlana spent on adult diapers for a town called Antonivka (see the attached maps – Google maps and then war map). Local volunteers divided the areas they are responsible for after the Dam collapse and Svetlana is responsible for Antonivka which had over 12,000 population as of the beginning of the war in 2022. Now only one third of the population remains there, about 4000, mostly elderly and disabled. Besides flooding which now receded, because of its location right on the Right Bank across the Dnipro River from the Russian-occupied Left Bank, it’s getting shelled constantly by the Russian army.
When Svetlana surveyed people in Antonivka, turned out the most needed item is adult diapers for the elderly and disabled. As you know from my previous Updates – diapers are very expensive over there and most people can’t afford them. We were able to purchase 230 packs of adult diapers for the remaining 80,000 hryvna, which is a lot! See attached photos – those boxes are also with diapers. In the last picture – top right is Svetlana herself wearing a safety military helmet while distributing diapers as the town is constantly shelled. She also sent me the receipts for diapers – see attached for those of you who speak Ukrainian.
I asked Svetlana to send me a few pictures or videos of Antonivka and the destruction there – see a couple photos attached.
September 24th, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
In September, we also helped many families with kids (some – with disabled kids) and elderly now living in various places in Mariupol – centralized refugee camps in dorms, school buildings etc or at other people’s homes – some locals let others live with them. All these people lost their homes. Some of them are from Mariupol, some - refugees from other destroyed towns and villages who live in Mariupol now – from Bakhmut, Soledar, Lyman etc. We delivered various necessities to them – diapers, food packages, simple home clothes and bedding as well as some toys for kids and a couple nebulizer for kids with asthma.
Alla and I did an approximate count of all people within the families helped in September. Counting my Update #33 as well as this one #34, we’ve helped about 120 people total in September! That’s a lot! See attached photos of some of the people whom we helped.
And we are well over 2,000 total people helped after 1.5 years of my Fundraiser and 1.5 years of this war... That’s also quite remarkable. We only help civilians, and most of those are kids and elderly. Wouldn’t have been able to do this without you all! Thank you all once again for all your support!
September 17th, 2023
After a month-long summer break to rest and recharge in August, Alla and I are back to work. In September, we helped refugees from Bakhmut living in a college dorm in a town Yenakijeve on the Russia-occupied territory of Donetsk region.
In September, Alla and her husband delivered to the dorm hygiene items and diapers for kids and simple home clothes for adults – bath robes for women and t-shirts for men. Remember, these people fled their homes back in winter or early spring with literally nothing. It was actually the now well-known Wagner Group that was “evacuating” them from the ruins of Bakhmut as they were taking the city over, and sending them to the refugee camps on the occupied territories.
All of the adults in the picture lost at least one family member in this war (according to Alla). Some have been living in the dorm for 7 months since February as they lost their ID documents in ruins/fires and they are still in the process of restoring their identity (and without documents they cannot find work and are not eligible even for the tiny financial help Russia offers to refugees).
The last 3 photos outside – also refugee kids from Bakhmut, but they now live in a village near Yenakikeve in random people’s homes. We brought them blankets and kits for going to first grade as they’ll go this year. As you can see on the background – it’s already early fall in Donetsk region…
Alla said that whenever she talks to these refugees, even adults, let alone kids – all of them are dreaming of going back to their hometown Bakhmut… Dreaming of rebuilding it… I don’t think they realize what’s left of it or maybe they do… If you didn’t see it on TV and in newspapers – some pictures are attached at the end – looks like Moon. Nothing is left of the city. And I personally don’t think it can be rebuilt. But people are still dreaming of going back home… They don’t want to live somewhere else, they want to go back home… And we are sustaining them and their dreams during this horrible time…
By the way, during the first year of my Fundraiser - 2022, we touched lives of about 1000 people. Well half-way through this year, in July, we’ve already touched lives of another 1000, so 2000 total. And now – even more, and we keep on going, I am keeping approximate stats with Alla’s help…
Alla always tells me that she wouldn’t be able to do all this without your financial support. She truly appreciates it, and so are the people in need. She said most moms are thanking us with tears in their eyes. And I am thanking each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to help my homeland and my home region – Donetsk region – through these horrible times. We are shedding some rays of light into these people’s lives.
July 29th, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
Over the month of July, volunteer Alla delivered with our funds diapers, food, baby shampoos etc. to 12 babies who lost their homes, please see details below and attached photos numbered according to the list.
Alla sent me a receipt for the items purchased and I’ve noticed that a pack of diapers costs $20 over there. I decided to look up how much they cost over here in the US – $30 for a similar size pack. So the price is very comparable, only 30% cheaper. Like I said, anything that is not produced right there can be very costly, especially for those people who lost their homes and sources of income. They cannot afford diapers, of course, it’s a luxury to them. This won’t be enough to completely cover the needs, but at least will help them for when diapers are most needed. We also bought baby shampoos and baby soaps, some baby food and socks etc.
1) 2 months old Maria – mom and dad live in Mariupol with strangers who let them in, the building where they owned a condo got severely damaged and is already demolished. Their dad got injured while being evacuated – got under shelling.
2) Ivan from town of Volnovakha on the frontlines, no dad, lives with his mom and gramma, their house also got destroyed and they now live with strangers who let them in. Mom lost her documents in the destroyed home, so she cannot even apply for basic refugee help I talked about in Update 30. I laughed at Ivan’s t-shirt saying “Sorry, girls, mom is my Valentine” – probably also someone’s donation ))
3) Lena (my namesake )) – from a village Mykolaivka near town Volnovakha, it’s a “Gray Zone” – the area not officially controlled by either party, so it’s constantly shelled by both sides. They are extremely poor. According to Alla, they were SOOOO happy to get the diapers!
4) Grisha – a boy also from Mykolaivka in the “Gray Zone”. Lives with his dad and gramma. His mom died from shelling 1.5 months ago… Alla said it’s a wonderful family and they will need more help – they don’t have bedding, blankets etc.
5) Karina and Christina – also from Mykolaivka, Karina is 6 months old. They were so happy to get the baby food, shampoos, diapers!
6) Nikita – 1 year and 2 months, from Mariupol. They live with their friends, their house got destroyed. Him, his mom and dad live in one room and their gramma and grampa + his sister in another room.
7) Alena – 1 y.o. from Volnovakha, only has a mother left.
8) Borys from Mariupol, his house also got destroyed.
9) Mark, 2 months old from Mariupol – also house got destroyed. His mom was very thankful for all the help!
10) Amir, 3 months old from Volnovakha, their house is destroyed, they live with strangers. Dad lost his good job and now works as a shipper/receiver moving boxes.
11) Sofia, 3 months old from Mariupol. They live in a collage dorm. Her brother was killed a year ago in shelling when he went outside to get some water from a nearby lake (there was no running water during the worst of fighting in Mariupol). Their dad got injured in shelling.
12) And yet another Lena )) She already gave birth by now to a daughter she named Alissa. She also lives in Mariupol. Their condo has 2 bedrooms. One of the bedrooms is not livable as it has a huge hole to the outside from a missile strike…
At the end, wanted to mention another interesting thing I found out from Alla. Remember, how I told you most refugees leave the camps after 2-3 months, find simple jobs and move on (sometimes rent a house together etc)? Well, turns out, many of those are now donating to Alla whatever they can to help new refuges and people who are still in the camps… I thought it was remarkable. Obviously, they don’t have enough to even live comfortably on their own, they’ve been through a lot themselves, but they find money to donate to her… Wow. I guess once you’ve been through something like that and been helped, you understand how much it matters and want to do the same for others... The good really goes around...
Well, we are doing our small part to help too. Alla always says – I wouldn’t be able to do all this without your financial support, which is true of course. So we are helping a lot. Thank you all once again, we are making a difference by spreading the good around and injecting some hope and care into these people’s lives that have been damaged forever.
July 22nd, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
I was able to connect with volunteer Svetlana in the flooded Kherson region (due to the Kakhovka dam collapse caused by the Russian occupants on June 6) and get some pictures and videos from her. As a reminder, we transferred $2,700 total ($1,000 from the funds collected previously urgently the day after the dam collapsed and additional $1,700 collected within a week timeline after my call for help). $2,700 equaled 100,000 Ukrainian hryvna total at the time.
Svetlana said she only spent 20,000 Ukrainian hryvna right away (or $550 from the first $1,000). She transferred money on June 8 (Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed on June 6) to a suburb of Kherson – a small town called Kardashynka. It’s located on the Left Bank of Dnipro River – see attached map. As you may recall, Russian troops fled Khernson (capital city of Kherson Region with a about 300,000 population) back in November 2022 - it proved too difficult for them to supply their troops on the Right Bank where Khernson is as shipping supplies over the wide Dnipro River proved too burdensome. So Kherson itself is under Ukrainian control now, but the entire Left Bank with suburbs, including Kardashynka, is still under Russian occupation. So when the dam collapsed, Ukrainian troops and even volunteers could not reach the Left Bank to help. And Russia took several days to even start organizing evacuation, and they wouldn’t let any international organizations such as Red Cross over there either. Moreover, topographically, the Left Bank is lower than the Right Bank, so it got flooded even more and needed more help. So volunteers within Ukraine were coordinating to get at least financial help over there to the Left Bank so that local volunteers there could help people, that’s what Svetlana did too with the first portion of our money.
Now she sent me some pictures of what was purchased for that money – some pet food, hygiene and cleaning supplies and a used generator for Kardashynka – see attached. And also some drinking water (as there is a huge problem with drinking water now – the water got contaminated after the dam collapse and flooding – many human and livestock cemeteries got flooded, some chemicals from nearby plants, gas stations etc got into the water).
She said that after the first week, help started pouring into Kherson region from the rest of Ukraine and also from other countries and international humanitarian organizations such as Red Cross – mostly non-perishable food, drinking water, hygiene supplies, pet food, clothes etc. She and her friends volunteers spent countless hours and days sorting through the donations and distributing those to the people in need. Right now, they are trying to distribute the supplies they have and not to spend anymore money. She said the donations already slowed down and will run out soon. So she is saving this money for later when help will still be needed, but the donations will run out.
Right now, they are in a clean-up phase – see attached photos and videos. The damage is tremendous. But they are trying to save those homes. And once they do (which they have to do before winter cold comes), people will need some basic stuff like cuts, tables, chairs, blankets and some sources of heat. So she is thinking of using our money for some of that and will keep us posted. I asked her why she thinks Ukraine won’t be able to restore power to those houses by winter – seems like the water is now gone in most places and there is enough time…
She responded with something I personally forgot about – even though Kherson has been liberated back in November, it is being shelled daily over the Dnipro River from the Russian-occupied part. So on top of this flooding, the houses are being destroyed and people are being killed daily. She sent me some statistics from the local government. Over the month of June, Russian troops fired 9,353 various size missiles in Kherson region, from those, 714 onto Kherson city. If you do simple math, it’s about 24 a day/night. The number of houses and buildings flooded after the June dam collapse is 3,821. And that is not counting them on the occupied territory on the Left Bank – that statistics is unavailable. So people are literally cleaning up the damage under the artillery fire. And the damage to the power grid after flooding is so wide-spread, the local electricians are unable to fix it under the constant fire and even the clean-up is done with generator power in many places.
Svetlana was again very grateful to all of you for your support and said it gives her strength knowing people on the other side of the Earth care...
Thank you all once again, we are making a difference.
July 13th, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
Over the month of June, we helped volunteer Alla to deliver a couple dozens of food packages to refugees from Bakhmut, Soledar and Lyman – the cities that have been severely damaged or destroyed. Some of these people live in a centralized shelter in a former college dorm in Yenakijeve and some – in different housing in Mariupol, all of the refugees in Mariupol we helped have kids.
On the Russia-occupied territories, refugees are provided free shelter in centralized refugee places – former college dorms, theatres, indoor pools/fitness centers, schools etc. But the local government on the occupied territories does not provide anything else – no food, clothes, necessities etc. If a refugee has ID documents, they are eligible to receive refugee help from the local government in the amount equivalent to… $60 every 3 months per household (whether it’s a single refugee, or a mother with a child or a whole family – it’s $60 per household). As I said before, prices are about 3 times cheaper over there, so this equals to approximately $200 here in the US in purchasing power, and that is every 3 months. It’s nothing, you can’t even buy enough food to survive for that money. And that is IF they have ID documents. Many refugees do not – they lost those when their homes were destroyed/burned down, so they aren’t even eligible for this help. So they literally survive because of the local volunteers’ help. Some refugees do not live in centralized shelters, good people or distant relatives let them stay in their homes, but again – those people often cannot afford to feed extra mouths either.
We helped with food packages before, but we don’t do it too often as usually Alla is able to raise money for those from the locals (or actual food donations – people would donate apples or cucumbers from their gardens or bread and pastries if they own a bakery or some bulk food items if they own a grocery store etc). Locals also donate a lot of used clothes, so usually Alla doesn’t need that either. So Alla usually asks us to help with other necessities such as bedding, shoes etc, which are harder for her to get.
Alla brings food and necessities to refugees in shelters she is responsible for every month (local volunteers divide those among themselves). She has several shelters she’s responsible for, she also has some refugee families in Mariupol she takes care of, and also some villages in the “gray zone” – the zone right in between 2 fighting sides that technically none of the sides can claim yet, those villages are being shelled daily by both sides as they are in between.
Each food package is designed to support one family (usually 2 people) for a month. Alla already knows what to buy and what works best and is most cost-efficient too - lot of grains, pasta, some canned non-perishable foods, tea, sugar, sweets for the kids and sometimes some canned meats and cheese.
Think about it – all these people had homes, had a normal life, they had everything they needed to live normally, and all of a sudden they lost everything – homes, memories, some – even their loved ones, many – physical health, all – mental health after being bombed for months… And they don’t even have enough money to buy food. People really don’t like being recorded inside the shelters, so there are not many pictures. I am attaching photos of another refugee shelter Alla is responsible for that she took recently – this one is in a former theater, but all refugee shelters looks similar. This is how they live.
I asked Alla if the refugees stay in these shelters forever (as the war is already lasting for almost 1.5 years). Also where would new refugees be placed if they keep coming and shelters are literally over capacity and just don’t have any more space for new people? She surprised me by saying that actually most people leave the shelters in 2-3 months! They manage to find some jobs (usually janitors etc as you can imagine there are very limited jobs on the war-torn occupied territories) and start renting apartments together as roommates etc. Some of them move to Russia as there are more jobs there (you pretty much can’t get to Ukraine from the occupied territories, it’s extremely difficult and dangerous, so your only route to be away from war is going into Russia whether you want it or not). But the good thing is – there is a turnover of refugees, so they don’t just sit there and wait for the war to end and for other people to take care of them! It’s a temporary place for them. Unless of course they are elderly or disabled, or orphans who lost their parents. I was very impressed that even under those circumstances people who lost everything, people who survived their cities being completely destroyed, people who are emotionally (and sometimes physically) traumatized, still want to get out of those living conditions and start a new normal life. They want to find a job, become self-sufficient again and move on. And we are helping them in between…
Also, I recently connected with the volunteer Svetlana in flooded Kherson and have an update and some pictures and videos from her to share. I will report on that in my next Update.
Thank you all once again, we are making a difference.
July 1st, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
Over the months of May and June, we helped a few people in my home city of Donetsk individually. See the list below. I decided not to attach any pictures of those people as it is very personal for them and those are hard to see. All of these have been vetted by my parents who remain in Donetsk through their local friends:
1) Helped a 59 y.o. man with cancer – his daughter was raising money for chemotherapy and recovery (there is a shortage of medicine in Donetsk now and often times patients have to buy drugs and bring to the hospital).
2) A grandma and her granddaughter died during shelling of Donetsk – missile hit close to a bus, locals were raising money for the family.
3) Mother and younger son died on the same bus, older brother is left with no relatives, locals were raising money to help a bit.
4) A whole family got injured in Donetsk from shelling, locals were raising money, we helped a bit.
5) 11 old boy had cancer and bone marrow transplant and now needs money for recovery – his mom was raising, we helped.
6) A house of a family with 5 kids got completely destroyed in Donetsk and one of the kids, a boy, lost his leg. Locals were raising money for the family, we helped.
Tough stuff above, so to make it a bit more uplifting and to end on a positive note, I decided to show you all a very special picture which volunteer I work with a lot called Alla took in Mariupol not long ago - a random sunflower growing through the rubble and blooming on ruins… I think it signifies the strengths of Ukrainian spirit and that life and good will prevail. I’m trying to be like this sunflower ))
Thank you all once again for your continued support!
June 26th, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As I reported in my previous update, volunteer Alla organized an event for refugee kids living in a dorm in a town called Yenakijeve on the occupied territory of the Donetsk Region around June 1, which is International Child Protection Day. As you may recall, we sponsored 80 gift bags with chocolates. About half of those was distributed at the Yenakijeve event, and about another half – at this event I’m about to report on in Mariupol.
This event was organized for disabled kids with various disabilities. It’s difficult enough to have a kid with a disability during normal times, let alone during war times… And as a reminder, Mariupol had almost half a million population before the war, and while putin’s army was taking it over for months, 80% of the buildings got damaged, many irreparably. About 300,000 of the population have fled the city by now, but there’s not enough undamaged buildings for the remaining 100,000, so many live in damaged unsafe buildings, electricity and water is still being restored in some of them. And about 50,000 are presumed killed in the city during the months of shelling, but we won’t know for sure until putin’s army leaves.
Look how happy the kids and their parents are in these pictures and videos. All of them have been hiding in basements of half destroyed buildings from shelling for months, some of them lost their parents or one of them, their grandparents, brothers and sisters. I cannot imagine what it’s like. But they look happy, at least for a day )) All that thank to you all :)
June 12th, 2023
As I mentioned previously, volunteer Alla organized an event for refugee kids living in a dorm in a town called Yenakijeve on the occupied territory of the Donetsk Region. These kids are from Soledar, Bakhmut and Lyman. Most lost their parents, even mothers, they now live in the former college dorm with their grandparents or aunts etc. Needless to say, all these children were traumatized for life while hiding in the cold unfinished basements from bombing, often with not enough food and water, their home and entire cities have been destroyed and they lost parents. They’ve been in this dorm for a few months now.
It’s interesting that whenever Alla asks them to make a wish (like when they are celebrating birthdays), they say their wish is to go back home soon. They don’t even realize that not only their homes, their entire cities have been burned and leveled to the ground…
Alla wanted to organize something fun for them, so they can feel like normal kids again. She organized it all – the games, body paint, people in cartoon animals costumes, music etc. And we sponsored the chocolates for the presents for these kids from our fundraiser – 80 gift bags total. About 30 were distributed to kids at the end of this event, and the remaining went to another event I’ll report on later. She decided to do it on June 1 – International Day of Child Protection.
The event started inside the college dorm and then went outside into the garden nearby. By looking at these kids, can you tell that just a few months ago they were sitting in cold basements hiding from explosions? Often cold and sick? That they lost their parents? Not really – they look happy, smiling… They behave like normal kids. For that one day they forgot about everything…
June 1st, 2023
Over the months of April and May, we also delivered spring shoes to disabled kids in Mariupol in Donetsk region with help of volunteer Alla. Mariupol was a city with half a million population that almost got wiped out from the face of Earth. It is currently occupied by russia. These kids’ homes got damaged or destroyed, some lost a parent during the war. All these kids are disabled - either have cerebral palsy or are deaf or blind.
Again, all these kids used to have a normal life in their homes before the war, had both parents. Now they are happy to receive a pair of new shoes… Thank you all for your continued support. We are making a difference in these people’s lives.
Alla and I are also working on organizing a little outing for 30 refugee kids from Bakhmut and Soledar who are now living in a college dorm in town of Yenajijeve on the occupied territory of Donetsk Region. She wants to take them to a small amusement park in Yenajijeve and get them balloons and candies, so they feel like all kids should. We decided to do this in honor the International Day for Protection of Children, which is today, June 1. We are organizing it starting today and into the weekend. Of course, the preparations, purchasing sweets and food etc have been going on for a couple weeks now. A report to follow in a week or two…
Thank you once again for all your help and support. This would not be possible without you all. I always tell Alla that I am just putting energy and hours into this, but the money comes from my friends in the US and Canada of all different ages, genders and backgrounds.
May 21st, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
During the months of April and May, volunteer Alla purchased with our funds and delivered 30 pairs of shoes to refugee kids and those kids from Mariupol whose housing got destroyed, as well as to several disabled kids (details on disabled kids will be in my next update – still waiting on a couple pics).
As I mentioned before, many refugee kids left with just one winter pair of shoes and so they needed something for spring and summer. And while people over there donate used clothes to the refugees, shoes are often much harder to donate used as they get worn out.
Alla said it was a very tough undertaking as first some of the pairs she ordered came in defective and she had to return and exchange those, then some sizes came in wrong, then by the time she was done, some kids grew up and their feet got larger, so the sizes no longer fit them. So she ended up putting a lot of extra time and effort into this undertaking. But kids and their moms and grammas (most lost their fathers in the war) were very happy to receive new shoes.
As I mentioned before, the refugees are from Bakhmut, Soledar and other cities destroyed by the russian army in recent months, they now live in refugee camps on the occupied territories of Donetsk Region in various cities and towns. The refugee camps are set up in local schools, fitness centers, college dorms and other former public spaces. Of course, every child we helped has their own story, but it’s impossible to tell them all here, so I asked Alla to highlight just a few (the pictures are named):
1) Margarita – she was born and raised in Mariupol and still lives there now. Looks like a happy girl in photo, but she got severely wounded by shrapnel when russian army was taking over Mariupol and doctors had to remove on of her lungs. On top of that, her mother got killed and she now lives with her gramma and her littler brother in someone else’s home in Mariupol (theirs got destroyed).
2) Boy Misha – his house in a village in the suburbs of Mariupol got destroyed. He now lives in a refugee camp in a school building.
3) Mark – his house also got destroyed in a village near Mariupol, he is now also at a refugee camp.
It’s extremely sad that all these kids had a normal life – parents, homes, clothes, shoes… And now they have nothing. See how happy they are to get new shoes? We’ll keep on doing what we can to help these people whose life changed overnight...
We were able to accomplish all this thanks to you all, wouldn’t be able to do this without you! Sincerest thank-you for all your continued support! We are making a difference in these people’s lives!
May 1st, 2023
April 9th, 2023
Over the month of March, we’ve made several donations directly to people in need in Donetsk. As I mentioned before, you can imagine that medical care became limited and more expensive over there because of the war. Plus it became more difficult to raise money from the locals for those in need, as the locals have gotten much more poor overall. And so we’ve been also making these ad-hoc donations, usually not large, $100-$200 (which goes further over there) to help kids with cancers and other illnesses whose parents are trying to raise funds for medical expenses from the locals. My mom is in charge of finding these people and checking their medical records to make sure this is true (my mom is a retired doctor). The community of people remaining in Donetsk is pretty tight, so the locals know who is truly in need and not a scammer and it’s pretty easy to check based on hospital records, calling hospitals directly to confirm etc. We also help some people who suffered directly from shelling, the locals know who they are and vet those fundraisers very strictly too.
1) 11 year old boy Yaroslav from Donetsk who was born with a very rare neurodegenerative disease (progressive death of nerve cells). His mom was raising money on treatment (it’s no curable, but at least to make his condition easier). We donated some money to her fundraiser.
2) A 14 year old girl Alena died during shelling in Donetsk. Locals were raising money to support her family during these difficult times, we donated some too.
3) 16 y.o. boy Misha from Donetsk with leukemia. His family was raising money for chemotherapy. We helped some.
4) 1 y.o. Angelina from Donetsk with eye cancer – needed a surgery on the eye.
5) A Donetsk family was in the car driving to celebrate an 8 y,o, son’s birthday that day, when they got under shelling. The 8 y.o. boy and his father died. The mother survived. Locals were raising money to help the mother. No photos.
Again, in the works now - purchasing and delivering nebulizers for kids with asthma, which worthened because of living in poorly heated, wet, often even moldy places – basements, unheated condos, refugee camps etc. Also in the works – purchasing spring shoes for refugee kids and kids from destroyed Mariupol who lost everything. Refugees usually have only one set of clothes and shoes on them and because these people fled in winter, they don’t have spring shoes.
Thank you all for your continued support!
April 2nd, 2023
During the month of March, volunteer Alla purchased with our funds and delivered more bedding to the refugees and people who lost their homes in Donetsk Region. As a reminder, the reason why those people need bedding is because refugees from the hardest-hit areas usually have just one set of clothes and one pair of shoes they fled wearing and nothing else – their homes have been destroyed and they have nothing left from their past lives. Whether they live in a centralized refugee camp or some good people let them stay in their homes, usually the local government or those good people don’t have an extra set of bedding, so often times they sleep on some old bedding or rags, sometimes covering up with old clothes or some rags instead of blankets. In March, we helped the following people:
1) Vitaliy and Tatiana – they are from a village near town of Vuhledar, which has been a place for severe fighting in the past few months. Their house got destroyed and now they live in a centralized refugee place created at a former gym/pool center in town of Khartsyz'k on the occupied territory. They had a baby girl last month and the pool Administration let them live in a locker room – separate room so to speak, as opposed to the common area with multiple refugees. We gave them kids bedding set and a pack of diapers.
2) Olga from Mariupol. Her house burned down as well as all her documents. She was so thankful for the bedding, she even cried.
3) Marina and her daughter Katya from Mariupol. Their house was destroyed. They come to a local church to get food and do laundry. We gave them bedding.
4) Valentina and Egor – their house in Mariupol got destroyed. They come to the local church while they live in someone else’s house where there is no bedding. They were very happy to get bedding.
5) Natalia and her kids Boris and Angela from Mariupol. A piece of shrapnel injured Natalia’s leg back in spring 2022 and she is now limping. Their father is disabled. They were very happy to get bedding, were saying big thank-you to you all.
We haves some bedding sets left to distribute. And we are working on purchasing and delivering nebulizers for kids with asthma, which worthened because of living in poorly heated, wet, often even moldy places – basements, unheated condos, refugee camps etc. Also in the works – purchasing spring shoes for refugee kids and kids from destroyed Mariupol who lost everything. As I said in the beginning, refugees usually have only one set of clothes and shoes on them and because these people fled in winter, they don’t have spring shoes.
March 19th, 2023
Last week, we delivered a generator to a village of Yevhenivka in the Donetsk region. This village has been on the frontlines since the war started over a year ago – you can see how close to the frontlines it is on the map. The population of the village used to be about 1000 people, but most either left or got killed... There are currently only 86 people living in the village, including 27 kids.
Their homes keep getting destroyed every week and people keep getting killed and injured, but the remaining locals have nowhere else to go. They said at least they have some homes there and would be homeless otherwise if they left the village. Because many houses have been destroyed, the remaining locals live together in the remaining few houses, several families in each.
They lost running water, electricity and gas as well as Internet about a year ago when this war started. And of course there is no way to restore it as the village is still right near the fighting line. The cell reception is very spotty and sometimes no reception at all for several days and even weeks.
There are 2 wells in the village. One is on the outskirts where russian military personnel lives. And twice a week the military people start their military generator and let locals get some water too. But it is very dangerous to walk that far as there is constant fighting and also too far to carry water for the elderly. Also, the military people could move somewhere else at any time and then 86 people would be left with no water at all.
There is a 2nd well in the center of the village – on the village church grounds. But the locals had no means of using it after the war as it requires electricity which they lost. So last week we finally got a generator for them. The generator cost us $450. I looked it up online here in the US and looks like you can get a similar 3600 watt generator for similar price here, so the prices are comparable. Some items like food, clothes, basic hygiene items are 2-3 times cheaper over there, but more complex items cost about the same as you can see.
Alla used to be able to come to the village to distribute food and supplies, but now because the village is on the frontlines and a russian military position is right there, they recently decided to limit entry to the village residents only, so she wasn’t able to get through the russian military checkpoint this time. However, a priest from the church came out and took the generator and brought it into the village. He connected it to the well and he is now operating it twice a day.
People from the village called Alla on the cell to thank her! She said their voices were so happy! They even sent her a thank-you message from the community – attached, translation: “We, the people of Yevhenivka, are expressing our huge gratitude for the generator. We now have the ability to get water twice a day instead of twice a week. The generator works very well and the water is wonderful - so tasty!”
Alla said the village “came alive” - people started making plans, 5 people even decided to baptize their children at the church now that they have their own generator and water. It’s like they got hope of better times to come… People need hope to survive and that generator and fresh water gave them hope. It’s amazing how little people need to be happy… Can you imagine living with no electricity, gas, Internet or running water for a year?.. Especially during cold winter… I can’t. We only spent less than $500, but made a whole village happy… or at least what’s left of it…
March 15th, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
You may remember that we delivered Christmas presents (chocolates and socks) to this nursing home in Mariupol back in December. As a reminder, Mariupol was a 450K population city that has been pretty much leveled to the ground by the Russian army last year before Russians were able to take it over. There are 150 total patients here – elderly and disabled. The nursing home existed before the war, but the number of patience increased during the war.
The nursing home was funded by the Ukrainian government before the war, but now technically is supposed to be funded by Russia which took over this territory. Funding and resources are very scares. The locals help however they can.
In March, we decided to do small presents for all these patients again just to lift their spirits. Volunteer Alla bought 150 chocolate bars and some small items like soap, socks, toothpaste, shampoo, tea, cookies etc. We didn’t spend much on this – only $3 per person ($450 total), but it really lifted their spirits.
Alla said the patients were so happy! She said the whole nursing home came alive and there was so much good energy - patients and workers were smiling and laughing )) Not only it’s the presents themselves, it’s also the attention for these people who rarely get it, it’s knowing that someone remembers them and cares.
There are not many pictures attached, because legally, Alla needs to ask for a relatives’ permission to take pictures if a patient has relatives alive, so she only took pictures of the elderly who don’t have any relatives left. Remarkably, all of these elderly women in pictures lived in their own houses in villages around Mariupol up until last spring… Now their homes are destroyed and all of their family got killed, so that’s why they no longer have any relatives and Alla could take pictures of them… The names of these 5 ladies in the pictures are Galina, Olga, Natalia, another Galina and Alexandra. Alla said in the last photo the ladies are talking – “What did you get? Show me!” )) They are curious like kids… ))
Also, quite remarkably, here is a video of the entry gate to the nursing home – while Alla and her husband are waiting outside. She is saying in the video that the dents in the gate and walls are from shrapnel of the missiles that hit nearby…
Interestingly, Alla recently told me that apparently my name Elena (shortened Lena) means sunlight, bright light, torch etc in Greek. And she was saying that it’s as if I collect sunshine over here and channel that ray of light into those people’s lives with her help. I collect all the good energy from you all (as she calls you all – my friends and helpers :)) and channel it over there into those people’s lives that became so dark last year. When people ask Alla, where this help is coming from, she says – from friends from the US (sometimes she can’t say from the US if Russian military people are nearby so she just says – friends, to avoid trouble). As always, sincerest thank-you for all your continued support, I wouldn’t be able to do this without you all! )) We are making a difference… Step by step, day by day, little by little…
March 1st, 2023
Over the past month, volunteer Alla and her husband purchased and delivered (with our fundraiser funds) 25 bedding sets and 25 warm blankets for kids in dire need. One bedding set costs $20 over there and one warm blanket – another $20, so $40 total. I looked it up out of curiosity on Amazon – you can get the cheapest bedding set or a blanket for $20 each here in the US, so when it comes to some items, the prices are not cheaper over there. I actually got a receipt from Alla this time. Usually I don’t even ask her for receipts as my parents know how much items cost over there, but this time she insisted. $40 seems like not much, but once you multiply it by 25, you are looking at $1,000. I am writing this, so you all have an idea how much things cost over there and also that once you multiply it by many people in need – it becomes costly.
The reason they needed blankets and bedding is because refugees from the hardest-hit places usually just have one set of clothes and one pair of shoes they came in with and nothing else – their homes have been destroyed and they have nothing left from their past lives. Whether they live in a centralized refugee camp or some good people let them stay in their own homes, usually the local government or those good people don’t have an extra set of bedding and blankets, and so often times they sleep on some old bedding or rags, sometimes covering up with old clothes or some rags instead of blankets.
Below is a detailed list with short stories about the kids we helped, I numbered the attached pictures according to the list numbers below. Of course, there is a total human tragedy behind every 1-2 sentence story below, I just don’t have the time to writer more here. You all can use your imagination to add more color.
Soledar refugees - as you see on the attached map, Soledar (10K population) is right next to Bakhmut (70K population), which Russian army has been trying to take over for months now. After months of attempts, Russian troops took over Soledar recently and are now “evacuating” a few remaining people onto the occupied Donetsk Region territory, many elderly and kids are in terrible condition. Alla said those people were hiding in the unfinished cold wet condo building basements for months during cold winter without heat and running water, so many have pneumonia, severe stomach issues, dehydration, low weight etc. After a few weeks in the local hospitals, they get transferred to a school which has been converted to a refugee camp in the town of Snizhne near Donetsk on the occupied territory.
1. 3 bedding sets and 3 blankets went to refugee kids – 2 boys and a girl from Soledar which are now living in the school building in Snizhne.
2. 2 and 2 went to Misha and Olya from Soledar – their house got completely destroyed and some people from Volnovakha on the occupied territory let them and their mom to live with them.
Bakhmut – the town Russian army has been trying to take over for months now that made it all over the news. Even Elon Mask mentioned it in his Twitter exchange with the Russian Space Ministry Head. Well, months later, Russia is now close to finally taking it over and there is not much left of the city.
3. 1 + 1 went to Vika from Bakhmut. She escaped with her gramma, her parents were killed there. She is now living in a former college dorm in Yenakieve that has been converted into a refugee camp. It’s very cold in their room, so she was very happy to receive a blanket. In the picture with her is the superintendent of the dorm. I encourage you to note the living conditions of the dorm in that picture – the old peeling wallpaper etc.
Lyman – a small town in Donetsk Region (20K) that Russians took over first and then Ukraine took back a few months ago, the city was also destroyed. The below are refugees from Lyman:
4. 2 + 2 went to Vika (orphaned girl whose mother died recently) and Vanya (a boy who lost his father and only has the mother now). Several families are now renting one house in Zuhres to save money.
5. 1 went to Angelina, she lost her father, now lives in a college dorm in Yenakieve with her mom.
6. 3 and 3 went to Sasha, Artem and Lera. Maybe the saddest story - their respective fathers were killed in front of their eyes… The children are still in shock… Local psychologists are working with them. They live with their moms now in a college dorm in Yenakieve. Again, I encourage you all to observe the living conditions of the dorm, especially in the pictures in the common kitchen… I guess it’s still much better than living in a unfinished condo basement without heat or water and being shelled every night…
Mariupol, well, I wrote a lot about it – the largest city in Donetsk Region after Donetsk, which had 2 million population before the war, Mariupol had about 450K population. Now the city is completely destroyed after months of shelling, about 2/3 of people fled and about 100K remain, while up to 50K are estimated to be killed - no way to find out for sure until Russia is out of the city.
7. 2 and 2 went to Misha and Max – 2 brothers in Mariupol. Their condo got destroyed back in March 2022 and since then they’ve been living with some friends in Mariupol – 2 brothers + mom + dad + gramma, all in 1 room. They were very happy to receive bedding and blankets.
8. 5 and 5 went to a family with 5 kids in Mariupol. They said a tank fired straight into their single-family house and it got destroyed. Now they live with some friends in a half-destroyed building which technically people are not supposed to live in as it could collapse at any moment, but they have nowhere else to go. They lost everything of course and needed bedding for the kids. The mother was crying when thanking us.
9. 3 and 3 went to Alexandra, Andrey and Alik in Mariupol – kids from a large family that also lost their house. They are now living with their parents and other people in one big room in Mariupol… Alla said they were very happy to receive the blankets and wanted her to say big thank you to you all.
If you counted, it makes 22 sets and blankets, so 3 more are left and will be distributed soon. But apparently more kids need bedding and blankets, so we’ll be buying and distributing more.
As always, more good deeds are in the works with Alla… And, as always, sincerest thank you to you all from myself, my parents, Alla and those people in dire need. It may not seem like a lot to you, but to those people it means A LOT.
February 20th, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
During the past few months, we’ve helped several people in Donetsk individually with our fundraiser funds. These causes were vetted by my parents as legitimate – they either reviewed medical documentation or someone my parents know knows these people personally. Some of them have been directly affected by the war, while others – indirectly, as they just happened to get sick or into an accident during the war and therefore during the time of scares resources and money.
1. We contributed to a volunteer group (not Alla’s) delivering cell phone powerbank chargers to villages on the frontlines where there has been no electricity for months. The only way those few people remaining in the villages can communicate with the outside world is through their cell phones or smartphones, which need to be charged. This group delivers powerbanks to different villages, but all of them look very similar to this one – this is just an example of a village in Donetsk region on the frontlines that Alla sent to me at one point, just so you can see what’s left of them https://vimeo.com/787241061
2. We helped a 12 y.o. girl from Donetsk region who was severely injured during shelling last year and lost her leg and arm… She is pictured with her mom in the hospital on the attached photo, you can’t see that she’s injured, I attached this one on purpose – if someone wants a full picture – please let me know and I’ll send. We already helped her with money for medication and surgeries in the fall, now they are raising money for prosthetics, so we contributed again.
3. Helped an elderly woman Olga from Donetsk, who lost her house because of shelling. Pictures of the house attached. She now lives with some friends, but she lost everything.
4. A guy named Nikita from Donetsk – he just happened to dive in shallow water in fall and broke his neck. Right now he needs money for medical treatment.
5. A woman Lena whose mother got diagnosed with ovary cancer in December. They were raising money for chemotherapy, which is very expensive.
6. Woman Inna from Donetsk, an English teacher in a local school. On January 9, a missile hit her house and she lost her leg because of the explosion. I have a picture of her in the hospital, if someone wants to see it – let me know, but I decided not to attach it here.
7. There was a fatal car accident in Donetsk in January in which a young husband and wife died. Their wedding photo is attached. They were in the car with their 2 children – a 6-month old boy and a 6-year old girl, both are in the hospital in Donetsk now. Not sure if they have grandparents. The locals were raising money for the orphaned kids and we helped too.
8. And the last story – a 14 y.o. boy stepped on a landmine while playing in the suburbs of Donetsk and seriously injured his foot. He needed money for medications. Did you know there are different types of landmines? I didn’t either up until last year. Some mines are made for tanks and heavy vehicles, and some – for infantry, of those some are bigger that can kill a solder and some – smaller, that are just enough to severely injure their feet, so the solders won’t be able to walk anymore. I’m attaching a picture of the last kind – look how small they are. These smallest ones are called “petals” they are made green so that they are very hard to see in the grass. You don’t even have to cover them with soil, they can be just spread from planes contaminating the area and they are almost impossible to see in the grass. It’s astonishing what humans invented to kill other humans and how much money is being spent on that, rather than, say, on cancer research or something else more beneficial to humanity. Anyway, kids in Ukraine are being taught not to pick these up and not to step on them… Well, this guy was unlucky… We donated to his healthcare costs.
Again, thank you all for your continued support! For those people even some help means a lot. We are spreading some light into their total darkness.
More good deeds are in the works with Alla… I will keep on helping while I have the money to do it.
February 6th, 2023
Dear Fundraiser Supporters,
As I described in my previous Update 17, Part 1, volunteer Alla was able to purchase 12 new generation electric heaters with our funds - very energy efficient and safe ones. Over the past couple of weeks, she delivered them to families in dire need in a small town of Volnovakha not far from Donetsk where she and my parents live.
Alla delivered the 12 heaters to single mothers with kids who lost their homes and to elderly who lost their ID documents due to their homes being destroyed. It’s pretty much impossible to restore your ID documents right now on the occupied territories as Ukrainian authorities are no longer there and Russia will not give their documents to people without any ID either. And to get any help, including simple humanitarian help like food, from the local authorities, you need to be added to a general list, but to be added, you need an ID… Most of those people with lost IDs are elderly who don’t have the time and health to go through a very lengthy burdensome process of restoring IDs.
So, we delivered 12 heaters to the following families:
1) 1 heater went to gramma Nena, 82 y.o., who worked at a local Post Office her entire life. She lives alone in a damaged condo. She lost her ID during shelling. As you can tell, it’s very cold in her condo – she is dressed inside like for outdoors.
2) 1 heater went to a woman with a very uncommon Western name Suzanna – she lives on her own with a disabled, developmentally delayed son. Their house now has a leaky roof from shelling, windows are broken and covered by plastic film, it’s very cold inside the house. She was so grateful for the heater, she even cried…
3) 1 heater went to elderly Valentina and her elderly husband Mikhail. They live in a half-destroyed house, you can see windows broken and covered by plywood. They effectively live in one room that is not destroyed yet.
4) 1 heater went to Katya and her son – their house was completely destroyed a month ago, so she and her son now live with neighbors. She didn’t expect a heater and even cried too.
5) 1 heater went to a 10 y.o. named Alex, his parents got killed, he now lives with his gramma and grandpa.
6) 1 heater went to a family, Alla didn’t provide names and I didn’t ask her, I’ll just call them Family #6. You can see in the video a very large nice house they used to live in. But half of it got destroyed and they now live in the other half…
7) 1 heater went to a mother with son and gramma whose house was completely destroyed and they now live in a small shed/summer kitchen.
8) Woman Tanya, mother of 3, her husband got killed. She lives alone with 3 kids. Alla said she was so happy to get the heater, for a long time she couldn’t believe it’s really a gift for her.
9) 1 heater went to gramma Antonina, she is 93 years old! Her ID documents burned during shelling. Lives alone in a small house, up until a month ago she didn’t even have power. She was very thankful for the heater.
10) 2 heaters went to the mother of 5 Yulia. The family lived in a village on the frontlines and their house got destroyed, so some people from Volnovakha let them into their home. They don’t even have power every day, but now at least they can heat their house better when they have power. Alla took pictures with 2 of the 5 kids. The little boy told Alla that he’s very scared of the sound of the military jet planes flying by, because one of those destroyed his house in that village… Alla said she wishes him that one day the jets won’t be flying over him anymore. And he responded – I don’t think that’s possible…
11) And the last 1 heater with no pictures went to a mother with 2 kids, the temperature in their condo was 12 Celsius/54 F – extremely cold. Their father was in the local rebel pro-Russian military and is now captured on the Ukrainian side (some men join pro-Russian military voluntarily, some get caught and forced to join or tortured if they don’t, I don’t know and frankly don’t care which case this was). The woman didn’t want to take pictures as she was scared they may get on the Internet and Ukrainians may think she accepts help from pro-Russian volunteers and may hurt her husband in captivity. Although Alla is a neutral party, like Red Cross, just helping civilians without taking sides. But there is so much hate over there now on both sides, that even an innocent act like accepting humanitarian help could trigger bad consequences. War dehumanizes people very quickly…
As you can see, even getting a heater is a huge deal for those people and they cry with gratitude and feel like it’s their birthday… Sad of course. But we are doing a good thing, helping however we can.
Again, thank you all for your continued support!
January 21st, 2023
As I mentioned previously, in December, the weather in Donetsk Region of Ukraine was mostly warm for a winter - above freezing during the day and slight frost at night, but then in January the temperatures dropped to 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15C) at night and below freezing even during the day. I also explained before that most buildings in Ukraine are heated by hot water radiator heating with the water coming from a central plant in the neighborhood, so most people don’t have independent heating in their buildings or individual apartments/condos. With the war destruction, many lost that central heating and have very limited sources of heat, which are not enough, especially now since the temperatures dropped suddenly.
In the beginning of January, Alla asked me for money to purchase 10 space heaters for families in need. She didn’t even have money to buy the cheapest ones ($50 each) - it’s easier for her to raise money from the locals for food and to collect used clothes and household items (remember – some people, especially refugees, lost everything, they come to those dorms with just a bag of clothes and need everything from forks to underwear, it’s terrible), than raise money for significant purchases of new items. So we’ve discussed helping from our fundraiser. The cheapest heaters were not the safest and not energy-efficient (it’s especially important over there to conserve energy now as the power grid is severely damaged and running at capacity). So I asked Alla how much the best heaters cost and she said $80 each at the local store. I don’t understand much in space heaters, especially now since I moved to South Florida )), but Alla said it’s the new generation of space heaters – very energy-efficient, consume 10 times less energy than other ones, they don’t dry out the air, don’t produce smoke and, most importantly, are very safe as there is no open fire or coils. They are filled with quartz sand which retains heat very well.
So my parents gave Alla $800 from our Fundraiser back in the beginning of January for the 10 new generation heaters. And a day later she messaged me very happy saying that she managed to get a bulk discount and order 12 instead of 10, she sounded so happy )) Alla ordered them in the beginning of January, but just got them this week. She sent me a video where she is thanking me and all my helpers (she calls you all my helpers – I laughed when I heard that - it’s like Santa’s little helpers, hey, I guess she’s right! ))))
Next week, Alla and her husband will deliver these heaters to the families in most need in Mariupol and Volnovakha – both very destroyed by the war. She says people are already waiting for them. Pictures of the deliveries will follow sometime next week or the following as these are delivered to different places, but in the meantime wanted to show you all these as soon as I got the pictures.
Thank you, my helpers, again for all your continued support! :)))
January 14th, 2023
Back in my Update #6, I told you 3 individual stories about people
severely affected by the war. I thought this could be a good format once in a
while as my updates are usually more general and cover many people at once without
going into details of their individual stories. But some of their stories can
serve as an example of how absolutely horrible any war is. Again, these are
just examples, there are thousands more similar stories...
1)
Gramma Tamara in Volnovakha town close to the
frontlines – you may remember her from my Update #6 - elderly woman whose 5th
floor condo wall got completely destroyed, but she continued to live there with
no wall… In a video she was saying when it rains, she has to sweep the water
out. I don’t know how she hasn’t fallen out of that condo... We were going to
pay for the replacement wall from our Fundraiser, but Alla managed to get the local
authorities to rebuild it. It took months, but by December this is what the
building looked like – the ceiling and the wall are back in. Only the window is
still missing, but it’s been ordered and should be coming soon… I don’t know if
Gramma has any children or what her situation is like – maybe they’ve been killed,
who knows, but you can tell she used to have good living conditions – nice
flooring, new modern white radiators and even a wall AC unit installed –
expensive thing to have over there. So she had a good life… up until the war
started. If not for Alla, who put a lot of effort into getting her wall back,
she would have been living without the wall still. But of course there are many
other buildings around that are just as destroyed – see the picture of a nearby
building for example, it’s not uncommon for people to live on the lower floors still
while the upper ones are destroyed. Usually people from the destroyed upper
floor condos move out, if they have somewhere to go. Gramma Tamara did not.
2)
Girl Lisa, a 12 y.o. in Mariupol, her mom died
in February after the war started (her father abandoned them long ago) and she
was left with her gramma. As it was common in Mariupol which was shelled for
months and months and pretty much destroyed, Lisa and her gramma were hiding in
a basement of their condo building for months. Lisa was very scared of loud
constant nearby explosions plus they had run out of water in the basement and had
nothing to drink for 2 days (which made her blood thicker)… as a result of it
all, Lisa had a stroke in that basement at the age of 12 y.o. I don’t know if
anything could have been done if there was prompt qualified medical assistance,
but obviously there was none, and so as a result of the stroke Lisa’s left arm
is paralyzed. Up until November, she and her gramma still lived in that basement
of a destroyed condo building, like many other people in Mariupol. But then
some neighbors let them into their condo until spring as it got too cold in the
unheated basement. Alla tries to bring Lisa some sweets and toys regularly whenever
she is in Mariupol, and she was one of the kids who got our Christmas presents
too. And you may remember her attached picture from Update #2 back in July when
we delivered food to Mariupol with Alla’s help. Alla said Lisa makes beautiful
bid jewelry using her right arm and teeth... If not for the war, she would have
still had a normal healthy life with both mom and gramma in their own condo… Now,
unless a place frees up in a dorm (which are over capacity in Mariupol), I
guess they’ll go back living in a basement in spring.
3)
9 people, men and women, we helped in Mariupol
in my Update #10 in November – the good news there is that 7 of them got moved
to a dorm about a month later. But there was no place for 2 more and so 2 men
stayed behind and continued to live in that destroyed building’s basement. But
in January Alla checked on them again while delivering some humanitarian help
in Mariupol, and the 2 men were also gone, no one was living there, so we
assume they got a place in a dorm as well. I am also attaching a video of Alla
driving to their building in January – you can see how many other destroyed
buildings are there too, in some of them people still live.
For all these people, their living conditions improved
somewhat from where they were after their normal life was destroyed by the war…
I wish I could say – it will only go better from here, but I can’t help but think
this is not the end. Meaning all these territories are still occupied by Russia,
which means Ukraine will have to take them back, which means – more destruction,
more deaths and more suffering... Unless Russians flee like the did in Kherson,
but that is very unlikely, they are going to fight to the last soldier, probably
leaving these cities and towns in more ruins than they already are. We’ll see
what happens and when, once you create this mess, there is just no good way out
of it. It’s easy to destroy, hard to rebuild. Easy to start a war, hard to stop.
Again, we are just trying to do what we can to shed at least
some light into these people’s lives that got totally dark overnight.
Thank you all again for all your continued support!
January 8th, 2023
Today is Orthodox Christmas and many Ukrainians celebrate it,
especially in the Eastern Ukraine where the majority of population is Orthodox
Christian. As you recall, in mid-December Alla purchased 250 Christmas chocolate/candy
packages with our funds for kids affected by the war. Some of those packages
were distributed around St. Nicholas Day (December 19) and around New Year –
see my Update #13. But as I said in my Update #13, more pictures should be
coming. And so today Alla sent me the rest of the pictures as the remaining
presents were distributed to the kids today, on Christmas Day.
Alla also collected some toys and kids’ books (mostly used
donated by the locals) and gave those to kids in addition to our chocolates. These
remaining pictures are from a church in a village called Lisichie which is away
from the frontlines and hosts many refugees from villages close to the
frontlines, whose homes were destroyed, and also from 3 different churches in
the most destroyed neighborhoods of Mariupol (one of the churches was actually
also destroyed and then rebuilt). All of these territories are currently
occupied by Russia.
And as to the 3 churches in Mariupol, as a reminder this 450,000-population
city was shelled for months and currently only about a quarter of the population
remains in the city, estimated 50,000 died and 80% of the buildings are damaged,
many irreparable. So these people in the pictures, including kids, went through
hell on Earth while being shelled for months, their homes destroyed, their
loved ones dying, often times hiding in basement for months without enough food
or water.
So the fact that these pictures looks somewhat normal is
already a huge testament to what we all have been able to accomplish – bring some
normalcy and holiday spirit to kids’ and their parents’ lives.
Thank you all again for all your support!
Merry Orthodox Christmas!
December 30th, 2022
This war in Ukraine started on February 24, 2022 - very
early in the year. I say “this” because technically it started back in 2014
when putin invaded Donbass region and annexed Crimea. But this war is much more
brutal in terms of destruction and casualties, and it covered entire Ukraine. I
started this Fundraiser in early March and the first good deed with the raised
funds was accomplished in late April (delivering food and Easter cakes to the people
of Kyiv’s hardest-hit suburbs – Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel). And since then, the
efforts only grew wider. Now, we are mostly helping people on the
Russian-occupied territories – the population that international humanitarian
organizations are barely reaching.
I did an approximate calculation that over the course of
this year, we have touched the lives of approximately 800+ total people (as
some families we helped had 2-4 members, so about 3 on average and some we
helped were individuals) – whether delivering food, blankets, pellet stoves or
Christmas presents. It’s a huge number of people in dire need that received our
help. Not bad for an impromptu personal Fundraiser! And as I said before, I
believe a good deed for one person spreads the good spirit further to others
that surround them, so the impact growth exponentially from there. It’s not
just food or blankets – it’s the feeling that those people are not forgotten
and that someone far away cares.
It was tough to get it going – not only to raise funds (the
response was actually overwhelming), but to find a way to even transfer money
over there as most systems are now disconnected due to the Western sanctions - PayPal,
Western Union, SWIFT codes for most banks etc, as Russian-occupied territories
are considered Russia. And then it was hard to find ways to help while making
sure the funds go to the right place – I did it with my parents’ help (who are
still in Donetsk).
During this year, I’ve received over 85 donations of various
sizes from as little as $20 (which buys one basic food package for a family) to
much larger ones. To date, I have over 50 individual donors as some people
donated 2 to 4 times already. It is particularly remarkable, because I didn’t
even have to really ask for donations – I just send out updates and post on
social media and people themselves ask me how they can donate and some continue
donating just because they see the direct impact their donations make.
All donations go straight to my parents (minus any fees the
sites and banks charge for transfers), my parents then distribute the donations
directly to people in need or to volunteers who charge nothing for volunteering.
And of course I and my parents screen the causes checking first-hand to make
sure those causes and people are real. And all the funds go exclusively to help
civilians, often elderly and kids, hurt by the war. Nothing ever to support any
military causes.
I cannot express how grateful I am to all of you for not
being indifferent in these horrible times for my country and my homeland. I am
grateful for meeting all of you at some point in my life :) I wish I could end
this year by saying the donations are no longer needed or at least that I will
spend them on rebuilding my homeland and those people’s lives, but the war
continues… So I will continue helping the people in dire need 2023 with all of
your help and with the hope that this war will be finally over and at some
point in 2023, so I won’t have to do this anymore (it really has become like a
side job for me that requires spending several hours a week and lots of energy
and psychological resources as well).
May these collages serve as a visual reminder of all the
good we’ve done this year :) Shed some rays of light into these people’s
complete darkness.
Happy New Year 2023!!! May it bring all the best to you all
and your loved ones! And may it finally
bring peace to Ukraine!
December 25th, 2022
And yet another Christmas update for you all!
Besides 250 kids mentioned in my yesterday’s update, we also
bought Christmas presents for 150 elderly and disabled living in one nursing
home in Mariupol. For these people, Alla was going to buy just a pair of socks
($2 each) and a regular 4 oz chocolate bar (about $1 each), so it would cost
$450 total. But again, she was having a difficult time collecting even that
from the local donors. And again, I decided to add festive Christmas bags and
add some candy and tangerines into the bags, besides the chocolate bar and the
socks. So we sponsored all these 150 gifts through our fundraiser and Alla
delivered them to the nursing home and distributed to the elderly personally
with her husband.
Again, we brought some Holiday joy to these people’s lives.
It’s hard enough to be in a nursing home under regular circumstances, let alone
in the middle of the war when all supplies, medications and even heat are scarce,
and of course when you just went through your home city being bombed and
destroyed for several months. Alla said the elderly were really happy, they did
not expect any gifts this season. So we brightened their lives a bit too :)
As I said before, another extremely important aspect of what
we are doing that is that we are fighting Russian propaganda with our good
deeds. Because the propaganda in Russia itself and on the occupied territories
like Donetsk and Mariupol tells people that the West and especially Americans
are the enemies and that they not only don’t care, but they want those people
to die. And so when I tell Alla and she tells other people over there that
Americans care, they are not indifferent, they are hurt by what they see over
there and they donate to make these people’s lives better, it’s a very
important message. Regular people helping regular people. We are not enemies,
we are all friends. And it’s not only important for us in America as a
self-serving message, it is important for those people to know that, because it
gives them the faith in humanity, makes them feel better that they are not
forgotten and people on the other side of the Earth do care.
I am grateful that with all of your help, I am able to shed
some light onto these people’s lives. 250 kids + 150 elderly = 400 total! And
the light will grow exponentially by being spread from those 400 people to
others. Took a lot of planning and logistics, but we did it with our limited
resources – both monetary and physical! Feeling a bit like a Santa Claus this
Christmas Day ))
Merry Christmas once again!!!
December 24th, 2022
Over the 10 months of this war, Alla got to know about 250
kids affected by the war in one way or another – some are kids of refugees now
living in dorms, some lost a parent or even both, some now live in partially destroyed
buildings or without power and heat in Mariupol etc. To be honest, I don’t
think any kid in Ukraine right now, and especially on the Russian-occupied territories,
can be described as not affected by the war, they all have been affected, but
these 250 – more than others.
Alla wanted buy thermo-mugs for these kids and fill them
with regular candy/chocolates. She already collected enough from her local donors
from Donetsk and Russia and Ukraine for the mugs ($4,000, as one mug costs $16).
But she needed additional $400 for the candy and had a hard time collecting
that. And I thought – why wouldn’t we, instead of buying regular candy, buy
special festive Christmas candy boxes to brighten the kids’ holidays even more
and bring some holiday spirit! That would cost $700 instead of $400 for regular
candy, but I thought it was really worth it. Alla agreed, of course, she just
had a hard time collecting even the remaining $400, let alone $700. So we gave $700
from our fundraiser to buy those festive Christmas gifts.
Alla and her husband started purchasing the gifts in early
December. It turned out that even buying 250 gift candy boxes was a problem as stores
had limited availability, so they had to order more and to drive around the
stores in Donetsk to find more, but they got it done. The 250 kids are spread out
in different cities, towns and villages. So after buying enough boxes, Alla had
to coordinate the delivery of the appropriate number of boxes to each location.
Some she delivered herself, others – asked friends to deliver.
In Mariupol, she delivered gifts to a local church in the
most destroyed neighborhood, which had a service on St. Nicholas day (December
19) and the priests gave out thermo-mugs and candy to the kids during the service.
And also personally delivered to some families in Mariupol that couldn’t even
come to the church for some reason (sick, no car etc). She also delivered gifts
to the dorm in Yenakiyevo where the refugees from Lyman live with heir kids. Most
presents have been distributed by now, but some are still being delivered to
the villages on the front lines, so more pictures should follow. But on this Christmas
Eve, I wanted to share with you these pictures – share the Christmas spirit. :)
Alla said the kids were so happy to receive the presents –
they didn’t expect it! )) And she said they were smiling and giving her hugs –
she said she never received that many hugs in one week )) I think it was very
important to give those kids at least some holiday spirit and a sense of
normalcy, and to give their parents some hope of the better times to come... We
gave 250 kids and their parents the Christmas spirit (plus to all those people
around who helped or saw it at the service) - I think it's a huge impact
already!
And another extremely important aspect of what we are doing
that is that we are fighting Russian propaganda with our good deeds. Because the
propaganda in Russia itself and on the occupied territories tells people that
the West and especially Americans are the enemies and that they not only don’t
care, but they want those people to die. And so when I tell Alla and she tells other
people over there that Americans care, they are not indifferent, they are hurt
by what they see over there and they donate to make these people’s lives better,
it’s a very important message. Regular people helping regular people. We are
not enemies, we are all friends. And it’s not only important for us in America
as a self-serving message, it is important for those people to know that, because
it gives them the faith in humanity, makes them feel better that they are not
forgotten and people on the other side of the Earth do care.
And to finish my update with even more Christmas spirit, I
want to show you a video of Christmas Mariupol the past holiday season celebrating
New Year 2022. This is what the city looked like, this is how these people used
to live just a year ago…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz_ACaSlsqE
You all know that now 80% of the buildings are damaged in
the city of 450,000 population (many irreparable) and the estimated death toll of
just this city was 25,000 until literally about a week ago when they discovered
another cemetery with tens of thousands of graves and now it’s estimated at about
50,000 total... Of course, there are also smaller towns and villages just as
destroyed, wiped out, but Mariupol happened to be the largest city on the land
passage to Crimea (which was the main goal of putin – to create a land passage).
And all those people just happened to be living there – at the wrong place at
the wrong time…
On this Christmas Eve, I want to hope that Mariupol will be
back to its Christmas looks if not when celebrating New Year 2024, then maybe
at least 2025… Who knows, it’s easy to destroy and very hard to rebuild. And this
Christmas Eve, please include peace in Ukraine into your prayers…
Thank you all once again for your continued support!
Merry Christmas!
December 10th, 2022
In late November, we organized delivering food and necessities
to 2 villages that happen to be located right on the frontlines between two
fighting sides (so-called “gray zone”) not far from Donetsk (see attached map)
- Kyrylivka and Valeryanivka.
Right now, they are occupied by Russia, but remain on the frontlines
since March as the fighting line hasn’t moved in either direction there since March.
They are constantly being shelled, every day and night. People are mostly
staying inside, afraid to come out. Also, they are warned not to gather in
groups as there are drones flying around (both Russian and Ukrainian) and can
strike a group. And of course there are land mines in the fields and some
un-exploded missiles around, so going anywhere off road is dangerous. The
villages lost power back in March and there is not way to get it restored
because of the constant shelling.
There are only 35 households (some include only one person) left
in 2 villages, mostly elderly, but also 2 families with kids. Many people were
killed, many homes destroyed (see pictures), also many people moved out. But those
who don’t have money or relatives somewhere else, simply have nowhere to go as
all refugee places on the Russian side are over capacity – dorms, camps etc. These
people are literally stuck in between…
Because of the constant shelling, no volunteers come there,
it is extremely dangerous. Some basic food is distributed by the Russian army
and those who have cars can get out to a nearby town once in a while, but of
course you need money to buy food, which these people don’t really have anymore.
Because the villages are right on the front lines, you
cannot just come and go, you have to get permission (“green corridor”) from the
military to get there. Alla and her husband did and were convoyed over by the Russian
military.
We paid for 35 food packages (one per household) and 2
camping gas stoves for the 2 families with kids from Fundraiser funds. Alla
also delivered other necessities from other funds she raised from the locals -
batteries, duct tape and thick film (to cover shuttered windows), used clothes,
cleaning supplies, medications etc.
Alla said people were so happy to see volunteers as no one
visited them for months! Some were crying, some were smiling… She said the
whole spirit of the villages can be described by 2 words – scared and exhausted.
Because there is no electricity since March, the military
brings a generator once a week for a few hours for people to pump water from a water
well and to charge their phones etc. The people asked Alla if she could get them
a generator for the 2 villages, so one resident could run it during certain
hours every day and other people can come get water and also charge their
phones etc. I was going to arrange to get it from our Fundraiser funds, but
before I could transfer money over (of course I don’t tell Alla how much we’ve
raised and only transfer in portions), another woman from Russia saw the need
on Alla’s Instagram and transferred money quickly. So Alla and her husband bought
a generator at a home improvement store in Donetsk and brought it over a couple
days later. Alla said when they came the second time, one of the houses of an
old grampa they gave food to was destroyed by a missile… She asked what happened
and the military guy told her the grampa died in shelling the night before… Alla
said she was crying the whole way back to Donetsk… I guess that’s the reality
over there… But she said despite the danger, she wants to come back in a few
weeks with more food for those people, because they need her, she wants to “adopt”
those 2 villages…
You can see many destroyed homes in the pictures, but also
some nicer ones on the background that haven’t been hit yet, so can imagine
that this village probably looked nice before… I especially appreciated the grapes
hanging from one destroyed house – probably looked so picturesque in summer…
Again, thank you for all your help, we are doing what we can
to make these people’s lives a bit less miserable… They are grateful and appreciate
everything. And I think to see a smile on their face is already priceless, that’s
why Alla keeps doing it…
December 3rd, 2022
Dear Fundraiser supporters,
Lyman is a town that was first taken over by Russia last
winter and later on taken back by Ukraine. After one army taking it over and
then the over one taking it back, there is not much left of the town… Most of
it is in ruins. So there are thousands of refugees – some fled to the Ukrainian
side and a some to the Russian-controlled territories (for various reasons –
some support Russia, some just didn’t have other choices when Russia ordered
evacuation). In any case, these people lost everything in this war, most of
them are saying their homes have been destroyed.
There are 30 families (70 people total) living in a college dorm
in a city of Yenakieve on the Russian-controlled side not far from Donetsk. Volunteers
Alla and her husband delivered 30 food packages for them – one per family. The
contents of one package are in the attached photo. One of these packages costs
about $20 total and includes tea, oil, canned meat, condensed milk, mayo, ketchup,
pasta, flour, sugar, grains and also toilet paper, soap, laundry detergent, wet
wipes (a VERY high demand item as many places have issues with running water), feminine
hygiene products. Just by glancing at it, I’d say it would cost at least $60 if
not $80 here in the States, so dollar goes about 3-4 times further over there.
Of course, Alla buys this stuff at wholesale places where it’s cheaper than in
regular stores. But even then, when you deliver 30 of these, it’s $600 right
there. So it adds up. This is just to give you all a general idea how much
things cost over there.
For these particular packages, Alla already collected money from
the locals for most of the food and hygiene products, so she used our
fundraiser money to buy canned meat and condensed milk to add to the packages –
most expensive items. I am attaching pictures she took at her garage.
There are mostly women and some children in the dorm, but a
few men as well. Alla said these people refuse to take pictures, because they
are very scared of retaliation by the Ukrainian army because they fled to the
Russian-controlled side (whether by choice or not). They are very scared that either
them or their family members who fled to the Ukrainian side (a lot of families
are split these days :( ) may get in trouble because of them being on the
Russian-occupied side. How much of that is propaganda and how much is truth is
hard to say right now, but war is very cruel and violence creates more
violence, so I definitely understand their fears and it’s better to be safe
than sorry.
Alla was able to secretly take some videos and pics (in the video
she’s actually saying “I’m not taking videos of you”) – you can mostly see her
husband giving out packages in the video, but also some women from the group of
30 families, who are taking the packages, so you get a general idea. Alla also
brought them some used clothes and blankets donated by the locals. As some of
these people fled in early fall, they didn’t even have winter clothes, they
lost everything…
Again, we cannot change their lives back to where they were,
but we can shed a ray of light into their complete darkness… They are very
grateful for all the donations. More
reports to follow soon, including from two villages right on the frontlines
shelled especially heavily and living with no electricity since March. Also in
the works – brightening lives with small Christmas presents for 200 kids
affected by this war in one way or another (lost a parent or both, refugees,
living in basements etc) and elderly and disabled living in a hospice in
Mariupol…
Again, thank you all for your support, both from me and from
Alla. In fact, she said her donations started to run out – locals are either
getting used to this as being the new normal and losing hope or possibly their
situation is getting worse and they can’t afford to donate anymore. She said
she was very sad with this trend when my mom discovered her and started working
with her. And now I work directly with Alla. So she said to me once – “When my
donations started to run out, God sent me you! It’s a miracle!” :)) It was so nice
to hear :)) Maybe he did, who knows. Things happen for a reason!
November 26th, 2022
Recently, with Alla’s and her husband’s help we delivered warm blankets and food to 9 people living in the basement of a destroyed condo building in Mariupol. These people used to have condos in that building, but they were completely destroyed and now they are forced to live in the basement (where they were hiding from shelling before). It’s been 8 months of them living in this basement with no electricity or running water. As the winter approached, they needed warm blankets as that’s how they keep warm at night – there is no source of heat in the basement (we are trying to see if we can get them a pellet stove too, like for Yulia, but not sure yet if it can be installed as there are no windows in the basement and no way to get the exhaust pipe out).
There are 9 people total living in this basement, men and women, Alla met them before. When Alla and her husband came this time, only 2 women were home. The rest of women were actually at work! One is selling bread at a local kiosk and others work as cleaning ladies somewhere. I was very surprised that even in these conditions people found jobs and actually went to work! And their men are busy all day collecting, chopping and drying firewood, as that’s how they cook – using firepits and also keep warm during the day outside (can't burn fire inside because of the smoke).
So we brought them 9 thick heavy blankets and lots of food and necessities, such as laundry detergent, toothpaste etc. Alla said the women cried. They said no one ever brought them this much before. Alla said it’s from “friends in the USA”.
As a reminder, all these people had everything for normal life and, all of a sudden, they became homeless overnight. And not only homeless, homeless in a completely destroyed city where it’s difficult to even find food, let alone heat or running water… They had their normal living conditions before, maybe not rich, but normal – condos, furniture, appliances, heat, water, Internet, cars, normal jobs...
At first, I couldn’t understand how people can live like that. But what I’ve realized now is that this is their baseline now, I shouldn’t be comparing to what they used to have, this is their reality right now. They have no other option, the dorms and other places for refugees are over capacity. I guess they are somewhat lucky already to have survived, unlike many others who lost lives in this war, including, I’m sure, their loved ones. So right now their main task at hand is to survive the winter, and not lose hope that things will get better someday. They just have to make it through until then… And so we are improving their living conditions from their baseline. We can’t get them back to how they used to live, but we can improve their present reality from this baseline – by getting them simple things they cannot get otherwise.
People often ask me, if there is Red Cross and other non-profits over there. No, there are not. There are absolutely no international non-profits on Russian-occupied territories. All the non-profits, including Red Cross, are on the Ukrainian side. Russia does not want any international organizations on the occupied land. Besides, it’s too dangerous for their staff to be there anyway, which often means being right on the frontlines, so those organizations don’t even make attempts to get there. So it’s only volunteers like Alla and her husband that help those people (and there aren’t many volunteers as you can imagine – too dangerous). Russia as a state itself sends some very basic food, often expired, but that is not nearly enough and of course they don’t send any other supplies and also don’t deliver it, so people have to go somewhere in the other part of the city to get it (and often it’s too far to walk).
As a reminder, Mariupol was a large city of over 400,000 population which has been completely destroyed – 80% of the buildings are damaged to various extent according to Ukrainian reports, many, like these in pictures and videos, are considered irreparable. From Ukrainian reports, about 300,000 people fled the city either to Russian or Ukranian side, but about 100,000 still remain and there are not enough places to live even for this quarter of the total population. Like I said, dorms and other places are over capacity. And of course, tens of thousands have been killed there, but the exact number cannot be confirmed until Russia is out of there.
In photos – contents of 1 food/necessities package (we brought 9 of those), 9 blankets stored in Alla’s garage, Alla’s husband giving out food and blankets to the ladies, their building and neighborhood around – all completely destroyed. And here are links to a few videos (I had to upload them due to the size):
Again, thank you all for your help, we are doing what we can… and hopefully, things will get better someday soon…
November 20th, 2022
Remember a young woman Yulia from my Update #6 from October
22? She lives alone in a destroyed condo building in Mariupol without
electricity, gas, heat or running water. She used to cook on an open fire in
the stairwell, not only for herself, but also for 3 elderly women left in her
neighborhood. Because it was getting cold as the winter approached, she
desperately needed a source of heat.
My father personally found and bought a pellet stove from a local
pellet stove maker (using our fundraiser funds). He said last year, a stove
like this cost about $200, but this year the price doubled. Mostly because many
people over there now desperately need them, so there is high demand, but also
because of the sanctions, inflation and the war – harder to get things. And
$400 for people over there is sometimes a monthly salary, but now many
completely lost their source of income anyway. So my dad bought the stove and
found a friend with a truck who drove it over to Mariupol and installed it for
Yulia. Because it’s nearly impossible to find pellets over there, this stove is
also designed to burn firewood.
Yulia was so happy! In the video, she is saying that it’s
better than just open fire, because it holds heat (I’d also add from myself –
also, because of safety reasons). And she can cook on top of it too. Now she
has a source of heat for the winter. And maybe if it’s too cold, those 3
elderly ladies can warm up there too.
In my update
#6, I also talked about grandma Tamara in the town of Volnovakha (also
Russian-occupied), who doesn’t have a wall in her condo anymore. We donated
some money to rebuild the wall, but the volunteer woman Alla actually wrote
several complaints and called the town Administration several times, and looks
like they’ve started fixing grandma’s condo now at the town’s own expense. So
that is underway and hopefully will be done before it gets too cold. I’ll keep
you all posted. For now, Alla, brought an electric heater for grandma (not from
our funds, from other funds she collects from the locals). To my question, how
is it that she has electricity in that building, Alla said that grandma Tamara
gets it somehow from her neighbors (most other condos are ok in the building
and some people still live there). Photos attached, you can see a pile of sand
and a crane machine, grandma’s condo is on the top 5th floor and grandma herself holding the new
heater.
And as to those 2 boys from update #6, Alla was able to
collect used winter clothes for them from other local people whose kids grew
up, so she only needed our money to buy a pair of winter boots for one for
them. Of course, all money saved from grandma Tamara and the boys will go to other
good causes.
On another note, wanted to mention that yesterday my dad
went to see Vlad’s mother – it’s customary over there to raise some money among
friends and family when something like that happens, so he brought her some
money he raised, including some money from our fundraiser too. Turns out, her
name is also Lena. And turns out, Vlad was her only child… My dad said she was
very grateful, didn’t want to let him go, made some tea for him and was telling
him about Vlad. Absolutely awful situation, what else can I add here.
In other attached pictures – the stove at my parents’ place
(actually looks cool with some metal embossed detailing and blue undertones),
Yulia’s building in Mariupol – her condo is circled in red, you can see the
stove exhaust pipe in the window, then the installed stove in Yulia’s condo. My
dad also made a food package for her using his own funds.
You can see a homeless kitten hiding behind the stove in the
video – he found the source of heat )) And then Yulia holding the kitten in the
photo. Emotional support animals – they are the same everywhere… A human and an
animal helping each other to survive… A little heart-warming photo for a
change?
Again, thank you all for your support, another update from
Mariupol to follow soon…
November 12th, 2022
Today, Ukrainian troops
liberated Kherson – the largest city Russia managed to occupy since February. I
wanted to share some footage of how the locals were welcoming the Ukrainian
troops, the attached video is played to a Ukrainian military song about a mother
waiting for her son to come back alive from the war. I can’t watch it without
tears. But it also gives me hope that at some point entire Ukraine will be
liberated. And gives me strength to continue doing my part in bringing the
victory closer, with all your help…
So in the last month, we made
donations to several people in Donetsk Region, all of these are confirmed by my
parents to be real people in need:
1.
This little boy in the photo got diagnosed with leukemia and
needed money for treatment in Donetsk.
2.
This 12 y.o. girl pictured with her mom in the hospital was
injured during shelling and lost her leg and arm… right now she is in the
hospital and we helped with some medications…
3.
This guy was caught on the street and thrown on the front lines.
Russian troops literally catch men on the streets of occupied cities, including
Donetsk, and force them to fight on Russia’s side. If the men refuse to, they
are being tortured and even killed. This guy was actually sent to fight near
Kherson and got severely injured. Now his parents are raising money for some
medications and we helped.
4.
We helped two families whose two houses that were standing next to
each other got completely destroyed by shelling – see pictures.
5.
In the end of September, a missile hit a bus in downtown Donetsk,
two people were killed. We helped their families...
I wish I had better reports
to share, but all this is necessary help and matters to those people in need.
As I said before, we are doing what we can and every day brings us closer to the
victory, whenever it will be. I hope, one day my hometown Donetsk will be
liberated just like Kherson was today. But until then, I will keep on doing
what I’m doing with all your help and playing my small part on this long road
to the victory…
November 7th, 2022
We recently delivered some food and necessities such as
clothes, diapers and some medications to the people of a small town called
Volnovakha. This town has been right on the fighting front lines since the beginning
of the war and is still being heavily shelled every day. You can see some
destruction in the photos. But people still live there while being shelled
almost every day and night.
Again, all these people had a normal life – they had their
own houses, some look pretty cute in the pictures. They had running water, gas,
electricity, food… Now they are going to bed every night not knowing if they
and their families will wake up the next day. Volunteers, including us, are
doing what they can to make their life a little easier.
I also wanted to add my thoughts on the comparison of what
is happening over there and Hurricane Ian which just devastated parts of my now
home state Florida. I think losing everything and possibly even your loved ones
to a hurricane is a very comparable devastating experience. The only difference
is – in Florida local authorities, state authorities, the national guard,
various non-profits and just regular people mobilized help right away as soon
as they could. Which is great to see and it matters a lot. But over there in
Ukraine the entire country is at war, it was not the richest country to begin
with, but now it is being destroyed. The government won’t help these people,
there is no insurance either and the only people who help are the locals who
are a little more fortunate – the volunteers, but the locals are stranded too
and don’t have much resources left. Even Red Cross is not active over there as
it’s way too dangerous for their staff. And so our funds are actually making a
real difference, especially since dollar goes much further over there – I’d say
on average you can buy 3-4 times more when it comes to food, water and basic
stuff.
So again – sincerest thank-you for all your continued
support. We are making a difference, even if small – it’s sure better than
doing nothing.
October 22nd, 2022
I wanted to separate out these 3 stories from the rest of the
people we helped with my fundraiser funds over the last 8 months since the war
started. I think they represent very notable examples of what war does to
people’s lives, people of different ages: 2 kids (brothers), 1 young woman and
1 gramma. All of these people I know through the woman Alla I told you about,
who is raising money with her husband and volunteering to deliver help.
1)
These two boys, 3 and 5 y.o., Artem and Alex,
live in the city called Mariupol - almost half a million population city which did
not surrender to the Russians for several months and as a result got completely
destroyed by the Russian army. Their father died in this war back in early
spring and their mom started drinking very heavily afterwards. So the boys
became pretty much homeless – in summer they were just running around barefoot
with minimal clothes, and even that just due to the neighbors helping them. You
see the neighbors in the first picture holding the bedding sets Alla delivered
to them back in summer (not from our fundraiser funds). And you see the boys in
the other pictures in summer and here are a couple videos of them. https://vimeo.com/762938392 and https://vimeo.com/762938481 Now that it
got cold, the neighbors let them inside their house, but the boys need warm
winter clothes and shoes. We have not helped them before, but will soon be
getting those warm clothes for them through Alla.
2)
A young woman Yulia who also lives in Mariupol.
Her multi-story building was completely destroyed – see video https://vimeo.com/762938569 and https://vimeo.com/762941334 There is no running
water, gas or electricity. She lives in her condo still, but cooks food on a
fire in the stairwell. Alla said Yulia is very strong and doesn’t give up and
even helps others - she not only cooks for herself, but also for 3 grammas that
are left in the area and live in similar conditions. Alla and her husband
delivered food and water for her from our funds. But it’s getting cold now and
the winter is coming, so it will get below freezing soon, so she needs a source
of heat too. We decided to buy her a pallet stove. My dad will buy it from our
fundraiser funds soon and Alla and her husband will deliver.
3)
An old gramma Tamara in a town called Volnovakha
right on the fighting line. Because of the shelling, her condo building got
destroyed and the entire living room wall just fell out… You can see the photos
– looks like a high floor. But she is still living in this condo and saying
that whenever it rains, she just manually removes water from her living room.
To me, it looks like those nightmares I sometime had when you walk into a building
and all of a sudden there is no outside wall… Well, this is not a nightmare,
this is real life... https://vimeo.com/762942500
Not sure how she hasn’t fallen out yet – especially since old people get dizzy.
But the other issue is – again, it’s getting cold. And of course she doesn’t
have electricity or gas… Alla delivered warm bedding for her from our
fundraiser. And we were brainstorming what to do, but gramma Tamara literally
has nowhere to go, so we are trying to get bricks laid into the doorway connecting
the rest of her condo to the living room, so she can’t go there and fall out,
but also so it will be warmer in winter. We will do this from the fundraiser
funds.
I would like to remind you all that all these people had a normal life – they had their own condos, running water, gas, electricity, food… They had a normal life. Good life. And all of a sudden they are in this situation literally trying to survive… And that is on top of months of psychological damage living in a war zone, hearing and seeing the explosions and destruction all around, let alone loved ones being injured and killed… Hard to believe that this is happening in the 21st Century in Europe, but it is… So again – sincerest thank-you for all your support. We are making a difference, even if small – it’s sure better than doing nothing.
October 16th, 2022
We
helped refugees from a town called Lyman not far from
Donetsk (where my parents are). Lyman got taken over by Russia and then
recently taken back by Ukraine as part of the Ukrainian army take-back of a lot
of territories in the North and East. Being taken over by military twice (first
Russia and then Ukraine) there’s not much left of the town…
Some people from Lyman fled
into Ukraine and some – into the Russian-held territory. The latter were afraid
that Ukrainian army would now treat them as traitors and accomplices to the
Russian army. Not sure how much of that is fear invoked by Russian propaganda
and how much would be true, but that’s beyond the scope of what I am doing. The
bottom line is – people lost everything, they are scared, they fled from a
war-destroyed hometown and now live in what used to be a college dorm in a town
called Yenakievo (or Yenakijeve) near Donetsk (both Yenakievo and Donetsk are
still occupied by Russia).
The woman Alla and her
husband from Donetsk, whom my parents know personally (same couple who helped
the people of Mariupol in my Update #2) bought various supplies with our
fundraiser money and drove those to the dorm in Yenakievo. They purchased food,
but also plastic wash basins for the refugees to do laundry in, laundry
detergents and soaps, bedding, electric kettles and some medications they
needed. People literally lost everything and needed basic stuff to live.
Here is a video of the total
supplies and food they bought with our fundraiser money in a van Alla and her
husband own.
Also just a couple pictures
from the dorm itself are attached – those people didn’t want Alla to take
pictures. She said they are traumatized and scared that they will get
prosecuted by Ukrainian authorities for running into the Russian-held
territory. So they didn’t want to show their faces on camera and she was only
able to take a couple pictures from the distance as a proof for us. I couldn’t help but notice a woman in the photo wearing a
t-shirt with a big word DREAM on it. How ironic…
Again, sincerest thank-you to
all of you for your support on behalf of myself, Alla and those people in need.
We are telling people the help is from some American friends in the USA who
care and want to help regular people who got caught in this war. More updates
to follow soon…
September 9th, 2022
My father and this guy used to serve together in the Police forces of Ukraine. They became friends while building their careers, and both retired several years ago as Colonels of Tax Police (which deals with companies trying to avoid paying taxes, money laundering etc). After retirement, my father remained in Donetsk while his friend moved to Mariupol – about 70 miles south of Donetsk, to be closer to the sea. He bought a nice 2-story house and was living there with his wife, happily retired. They remained friends after retirement.
Mariupol has become the largest city in Ukraine (almost 500,000 population) that has been almost completely destroyed during this war – 80% of the buildings there have been damaged, many are not restorable. This is the city where people were burying their loved ones in the common condo building yards as they couldn’t make it to the cemetery – the shelling was so bad. The civilian deaths are estimated at tens of thousands, but since it’s now occupied by Russia, no one can count officially yet. The city lost water, power, cell and Internet connection for months.
It took my father a month to find his friend… He explored various avenues and wasn’t even sure if he was still alive. And finally he found him…
The attached pictures show what is now left of his nice 2-story house… Moreover, him and his wife were hiding in the basement during the fighting, so when the missile hit the house, they got buried under the rubble inside the basement. You can see the people – neighbors and volunteers – in the pictures, who dug them out…
He lost everything. I asked if he had pictures of the house before the war, so I can show what it looked like, but even those are lost - his phone, his computer, everything is lost under the rubble. I guess he’s lucky that him and his wife survived, but not sure if he thinks that way. Can’t even imagine the trauma they experienced in that basement… You can see him in the last photo sitting inside his shattered car looking at what’s left of his house, of his entire life… That expression says it all… A life-long police officer, he was used to seeing and experiencing many things... but not this.
Him and his wife are now living in a friend’s house in the suburbs of Mariupol. We helped him by giving some money from the fundraiser to get basic stuff.
And his story is one of tens of thousands similar stories in Mariupol… And every day, there are more people like him, who get affected by this war in most horrible ways. Every single day that this war continues…
Thank you all again for your help. My father, who directs help over there, keeps telling me that even small help is important, because it’s not just money or food/water/necessities, it also shows people that they are not forgotten, that someone cares, and gives them hope and the energy to go on and believe in better peaceful times – that’s what he sees over and over when he helps to distribute help. He tells them it's help from "friends from the USA" that his daughter who lives in the US raised.
August 24th, 2022
Helping those whose houses were destroyed:
1)
A woman who lost her house in a suburb of
Donetsk Yasinovataya (see attached pics). Thankfully, she was at work when that
happened, but now has nowhere to live. Some good people gave her a room to
stay, but of course she needs money to buy basic things. She wasn’t even asking
for money, was just saying – I no longer have a home… She was devastated, but
very grateful when we helped.
2)
A woman whose house got destroyed in Donetsk.
She was raising money to get basic stuff. Also, she has a son (6th
grade) and an elderly mother living with her, they also lost all their stuff
(picture of the house attached).
And the saddest donation:
3)
A 10 y.o. girl was killed by shelling in Donetsk
(one of the hundreds of kids already killed in this war). Her mother was
raising money for her funeral. We helped a little. I was considering attaching
a picture of the girl when she was alive and happy, but decided not to. It’s
too hard to see…
I want to finish by reminding again that war is never a
solution and must be diplomatically avoided at all costs. All it brings is pain,
sorrow and destruction. It’s easy to start and hard to end. Tomorrow will mark
exactly 6 months or half a year since the beginning of this war and there is
still no end in sight…
Regular people who get caught in the middle are always the
ones who suffer the most. And right now people who remain on the occupied
territories are being shelled by both sides – Russians and Ukrainians (trying
to take them back). And at the end of the day, what difference does it make whether
your daughter got killed or your house got destroyed by a Russian or a
Ukrainian missile?..
I still have funds left and we will keep helping those
people caught in between and doing what we can. Sincere thank-you to all of you
once again for all your support! I know those people who receive help are very
grateful too.
August 24th, 2022
This update will not have as many pictures since I am trying
to use discretion on what to show you all and if it’s too hard to see, I will
not send it to you. I appreciate all of your help and want you all to have
peace of mind. So I’ll never show you anything that depicts sickness, injuries
etc. Destruction – yes, but never anything too graphic or disturbing.
Unlike the first two, this update will be about more
targeted help - several smaller donations we made over the past couple of
months. All these people live in Donetsk or vicinity, and my parents know
someone who knows them personally.
Medical help – during the war, hospitals often don’t have
the medication needed, so people have to raise money. And even during war
times, other local people help as much as they can, but of course their resources
are very limited now. We helped a few (I decided not to attach photos for these
– too hard to see):
1)
A young mother whose 5 y.o. daughter was
diagnosed with brain cancer before the war. It is devastating for anyone even
during normal times to get such diagnosis for their child, let alone to live
with it during war. She needed some meds and we helped.
2)
A little boy with pneumonia in ICU needed
certain medication, which the hospital did not have.
3)
A woman with cancer needed money to buy
medication as the hospital did not have it.
4) A girl whose elderly mother is paralyzed at home – we bought adult diapers and other hygiene products for her mom.
Continued in Part 2 above.
July 4th, 2022
*Continued from Part 1 below.
*Use the right arrow on the head image of the campaign with the flags to see the photos...
Now it’s known as the city where people were forced to bury
their fallen loved ones right in their yards and on the sides of the roads because
the bombing was so bad, they could not make it to a cemetery. Most sources say
80% of the buildings in the city have been damaged to a different degree, many
are not restorable. But people still live in those buildings! They have nowhere
to go. They have no electricity and often no running water. And the food supply
is very scarce – Russia now distributes some humanitarian help over there, but
it’s not enough and some parts of the city are better supplied while others are
forgotten for some reason.
My parents (who are unfortunately still in the occupied
Donetsk, the capital of the Donetsk Region) connected with a woman (a friend of
a friend) and her husband who volunteer by collecting money and items and
driving them over to places in most need. They purchased food, some sweets for kids,
candles, matches, feminine hygiene products, underwear etc – the basic things those
people no longer have or can get. And they drove them to the most affected
neighborhoods of Mariupol – those close to the Azovstal plant.
The woman sent these pictures to my parents, her husband is
in these giving food and other items to the people. You can see the burned
buildings with broken windows on the background. You can also see some improvised
summer kitchens outdoors where people cook using camping gas stoves. I can’t
even imagine what those people have been through… Those they were able to talk to
said they feel like they went through the Hell on Earth and survived. It’s heartbreaking
to look at these people, at the elderly and especially at the kids… They are
probably traumatized for life now. Although maybe the really young ones can forget
this like a scary dream, but the older ones will not… But they are still kids and
look at their bikes and toys, and some are even smiling when receiving the
fruit and chocolates. These kids had a good life, normal life, happy life… and
all of a sudden here they are living in burned buildings among ruins while not
having basic stuff and food… Let’s hope they at least still have their parents…
Some may not.
It's all tough to see of course, but it is what it is and we
can’t change what’s going on over there. But what we can do is maybe make it a
little better for those people, counter the Darkest Evil with a little bit of
light. Every little bit helps and now that I finally found a couple volunteers,
I’ll do more and you’ll see more updates from me in the coming weeks. I still
have big portion of the funds left to provide more help as dollar goes much
further over there, but of course unfortunately there will be a need for help
for the foreseeable future…
Thank you all for your support. Wouldn’t be able to do this without you all!
P.S. Use the right arrow on the head image of the campaign with the flags to see the photos...
Lena
July 4th, 2022
Dear friends who donated to my fundraiser,
It’s been a long while - over 2 months since my first and
last update on our humanitarian help efforts around Easter to the people of Kyiv
suburbs – Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel. Since then, a lot has changed and the Russian
army moved further out of Kyiv region as well as other Northern regions of Ukraine,
which allowed the government and many non-profits to enter those territories
and provide humanitarian help.
Right now, the worst of the war is in the Eastern and
Southern Ukraine, a big part of which is occupied by Russia now. And the reason
for a gap in updates is that it’s been really difficult to find volunteers whom
my family or friends know personally, and who deliver humanitarian help to
people in most dire need. There are those volunteers out there, but not many as
those places are often close to the fighting line and going there is extremely
dangerous.
Last week, we were finally able to deliver some humanitarian help over to the people in the city of Mariupol, which most of you probably heard about by now. It’s the city where the plant Azovstal is and which was recently taken over by Russia after months of fighting. The city is in my home Donetsk Region in the Southeast of Ukraine and had almost half a million population pre-war, pretty big city on the sea coast. I remember going there once or twice as a teenager.
(Continued in Part 2 above due to limited character allowance)
April 24th, 2022
*Continued from Part 2 below.
It's very difficult to even transfer money over there now, let alone to organize everything with the people I trust and get it delivered. But I will keep trying. Every little step matters now and doing at least something is better than doing nothing. I see it as fighting the Darkest Evil with a little ray of light of kindness and hope, step by step. With the little resources that we have, but still better than nothing. If we make one person feel a little better, he or she will pass it on to others around them. If many people in the World shed their little ray of light, we can counter the Absolute Darkness.
Thank you all again for your support, we are making a
difference, even if small. More to come in the coming weeks...
Happy Ukrainian Easter!
April 24th, 2022
*Continued from Part 1 below...
We reached just about 30 elderly families and disabled too (delivered to their apartments), but people are now sharing food with neighbors, so may be even more whom we've reached. This is the first step and took several days to organize and 2 full days (Thursday and Friday last week) to drive around and distribute. I know it's a small step, but I believe for those people who got traumatized for life by seeing the face of the Darkest Evil, every little bit matters. It's not just the food itself, it also matters emotionally - that someone cares and tries to help. They were grateful, asking what organization my friend is with and he was just saying - none, it's just help from his friends in the US who want to help.
He didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of those people, which I completely understand. But I asked him to at least take some pictures of the destruction. I want these pictures to serve as a reminder to all of us that there is nothing glorious about any war. Any war brings only pain and suffering and atrocities we cannot even imagine during peaceful times. Any war should be avoided at all cost. It's easy to start a war, but hard to end and, once started, they tend to last for year, and every single day brings more deaths and destruction (see attached collage).
*Continued in Part 3 (due to the limited character allowance).
April 24th, 2022
Today is Ukrainian Easter and coincidentally exactly 2 months since the war in Ukraine started on February 24. So the first good deed we all accomplished with a portion of the total money raised is provided grocery packages, which included traditional Ukrainian Easter cakes, to about 30 families in one of the hardest war-hit territories of Ukraine - Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel - the towns where the recent massacres happened.
These towns are located in North-West
suburbs of Kyiv (see map below). My good old friend who stayed in Kyiv
this entire time personally organized purchasing groceries, which included
various items such as pasta and rice, eggs, canned meats and fish, canned
soups, tea, juices, condensed milk etc. You can see the total groceries
purchased in one photo below in black plastic bags and then they were sorted
into 30 packages each with the approximate contents shown in another photo with the Easter cake in the middle. He then personally drove those packages in his car to the affected 3
cities and distributed to the people in need.
He said the destruction there is very
hard to see. He lived in Kyiv his entire life and is very familiar with those
towns. I am attaching a few pictures he took just to provide
some context through his eyes (see Part 2 - only 1 photo is allowed). Most places
still have no running water or power (people are cooking food on camping
stoves). He said most people there left by now and the towns feel
empty. The only people remaining are elderly and disabled who cannot leave or
have nowhere to go. He did find some people while driving around and gave them
our packages. He said they were the happiest to see the Easter cakes - some sense
of holiday and a sign that life goes on. It was emotionally hard for him to talk to people
and hear what they had to say, some are in complete shock still while some were
more emotional. They do now have centralized places at schools where they can
receive humanitarian help - food and water, but our packages included better
quality/more expensive foods and of course those Easter cakes which no
humanitarian help has and which made people really happy. *Continued in Part 2 (due to limited character allowance).
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