Not long after shelling began in Ukraine, Daniil Cherkasskiy, our founder, got a phone call from a close friend. The surrogate mother of his friend’s twins, trapped in Kyiv, gave birth. The babies were born at 33 weeks and were in dire need of preemie formula.

Local pharmacies were blocked by Russian gunfire. Daniil began working through the night to help coordinate the delivery of formula. Through a series of connections, he met Natalia, a real estate agent and young mother. Instead of evacuating, she stayed, narrowly escaping shelling as she drove from pharmacy to pharmacy — risking her life for a stranger’s babies. The first link in the TrustChain was established.

Very quickly the network expanded. In Ukraine, additional teams formed throughout active war zones. In the U.S., Daniil’s friends mobilized their own personal networks including friends, families, and co-workers to raise funds for the teams. Meanwhile, Daniil built a stable financial bridge between incoming donations and the volunteer teams in Ukraine. Within hours, funds were being channeled to Ukraine and being matched to real-time needs. 

Today, Ukraine TrustChain funds fifteen Ukrainian teams supported by a U.S.-based operations team.