December 21, 2023
58,135 people evacuated from danger to date
147 people evacuated from danger this week
34 trips into the deoccupied and frontline territories
Firewood remains our top seasonal priority and is likely to continue to be the focus of the larger teams well into mid January. Despite exceptional work of Ukrainian Air Defense Forces, the enemy is gradually undermining high-voltage lines leading to increasingly frequent blackouts particularly in the remote frontline areas. Firewood and coal are the only sources of heat, which became particularly relevant after the blizzards last week. Once again, the volunteer community accurately forecasted this need in the preceding months. Thanks to this foresight, their firewood initiatives are operating at top capacity when they are needed most, moving close to 400 tons of firewood a week directly into homes with acute and verified need.
This enormous effort is made possible by your continued generosity. Despite incredible discounts, volunteer labor and unrelenting cost control by each team the effort requires tens of (50-70) thousands a week which we are proud to allocate to this purpose.
Stories
Firewood Deliveries - Continued
Inna’s team moved another 300 tons in position to be delivered to Donbas region villages. Some of the deliveries had to be postponed last week. Rain, then ice, with snow on top, covered everything with a layer of ice, leading trees to collapse rupturing power lines. Road services couldn’t cope with the situation beyond Izyum fast enough. Our trailer trucks could not make it over the hilly roads in those directions, although they tried. This week the situation has stabilized and volunteers are rushing to complete deliveries.
In the meantime, Oleksandr’s volunteers delivered 93 tons of firewood to the Kherson region where the weather was less severe last week. The villages of Komyshany and Zymivnyk are under constant surveillance by Russian drones. The trucks offload the firewood 15 miles away and last mile deliveries are performed by smaller 3-5 ton vehicles. Last week 186 families were provided with a 2-months’ supply of firewood.
Operations in the Occupied Territory
310 packages distributed in 4 occupied towns. 5 people with disabilities were evacuated from Russian-occupied left-bank territories.
Mother and daughter reunited in Odesa after mother was evacuated from the occupied left bank.
Vegetables, Villages, Victory
Last week Pavel’s team completed a massive project distributing 72 tons of vegetables to 2,300 high-need families in 19 villages. These villages were situated on both sides of the frontline in the battle for Kherson that ended in Kherson’s liberation last year. The villages have not fully recovered from these traumatic events, but many of the residents have returned to rebuild their homes. Wholesale distribution of vegetables is an incredibly efficient way to support farmers in nearby regions and stay cost-efficient. At seasonal prices, $30-50 can provide months of sustenance to families; although, a diet consisting entirely of cabbage, carrots and potatoes is meager and should be supplemented with other kinds of aid. Yet these deliveries provide a solid foundation for food security in the villages for thousands of families.
Kobzartsi
One of the villages Pavel has supported since deoccupation is Kobzartsi (“Little Harpers”). All of our newsletters mention dozens of Ukrainian locations, and it is easy to forget that each of these little towns has its own history often going back hundreds of years, connecting their residents in an incredibly complex tapestry of dynastic relationships, friendships and tensions.
Kobzartsi at its height had 800 households. The village had a beautiful church as well as a large sports complex, and was thriving thanks to its fertile fields and central location between Kryvyi Rih and Mykolaiv. During the invasion the enemy was stopped right in front of the village. Kobzartsi suffered from ruthless bombing. After getting information about Ukrainian troops being stationed in the village, 70 rockets were unleashed on Kobzartsi on September 1st, 2022, destroying much of the village center.
It took 9 months to restore power to the village. It still does not have drinking water which has to be brought by volunteers and the municipal government. Despite these difficulties, 245 families with 110 children returned to the village. Pavel’s team has been supporting Kobzartsi since July of 2023. They are organizing a holiday event for the children there. Recently Pavel’s team delivered vegetables, building materials, and water to the village.
Children Holidays
Most volunteer teams supporting IDPs and frontline region population made an effort to deliver gifts to children. You can see these holidays mentioned over the last three weeks in our newsletters.
Alena went to deliver gifts to the children in three tiny towns near Mykolaiv. Because the population is small, Alena was able to provide gifts (in the form of fruits and festive treat sets) for all of the children. A little while back, a different organization brought 70 gifts to the children in these towns, but it wasn’t enough for all of them. Understandably, many children were left disappointed and cried. The locals shared this with Alena not because they are ungrateful, but to communicate the importance of assessing needs before delivering aid. In order to prevent recurrences of this, it is best to give money to local teams who know what each population needs to support them this holiday season.
People behind Bullet Points
War doesn't just kill people outright. The stress of displacement and losing loved ones also takes its toll on the survivors, while medical care is harder to come by for refugees. This week our traveling mobile clinic Angelia reports a number of such stories: a 56-year-old man from Mykolaiv had a stroke and suffers from dangerously high blood pressure after his wife and son were killed by the occupiers; a 65-year-old man whose son and son-in-law died near Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut developed urinary inflammation; a woman from Marhanets living under constant bombardment saw all her medical conditions worsen, and a woman whose children were killed by a projectile missile now suffers from dental issues.
We are grateful that thanks to our partnership with Angelia Clinic we are able to provide some relief to the suffering of these people.
Team Summaries
Ihor’s Team – Dobra Sprava (“Good Cause”)
13 trips and 141 people evacuated from Svyatohirsk, Lyman, Slov’yansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, Kostyantynivka, Pokrovsk, and Kherson areas
Inna’s Team – Krok z Nadiyeyu (“Step with Hope”)
23.6 tons distributed to 8,050 people.
9,500 people received bread.
Flood relief in Kherson:
Installed dehumidifier and disinfected 2 buildings
Exterminated rats in 21 buildings including 2 kindergartens and 1 school and 4 bomb shelters
Using 5 generators Kherson team provided light and heating to a highrise in Kherson neighborhood that has been without power due the shelling
Performed 22 equipment maintenance tasks;
Evacuated 1 person to Odesa.
Deliveries were delayed by weather and icy roads. 36 families received 57 tons of firewood in Khotomlya and 300 tons were prepped for deliveries happening this week.
Multiple trips to high-risk areas: 60 families received help in Kostyantynivka, Druzhkivka, distribution in Slaviansk, Kramatorsk,
80 packages delivered to Vesele, generators and 36 packages to Kherstyshe and Mykolske
30 packages distributed to Balakliya and Izyu
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S (Boyarka): delivered 2,500 kg of humanitarian aid to Kozelets (Chernihiv Region).
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): transported 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 7 tons of water and 2.5 tons of other humanitarian aid to Kherson.
Andriy P (Mykolaiv): delivered 42 tons of drinking water to the Kherson Region. 2,874 people in the region also received help with food and other basic necessities.
Sandra S (Odesa): kitchen fed more than 2,000 people.
Yuri S (Vinnytsia): distributed 175 food packages and 175 food trays, as well as clothes, bread and bedding to internally displaced people (IDPs) at the "Emmanuel" relief center in Vinnytsia. Served meals to 30 low-income people in Vinnytsia. Delivered food and toys to children at the shelter in Tsvizhyn (Vinnytsia Region).
Oleksandr D (Lutsk): Delivered 93 tons of fuel briquettes to 186 households in the Kherson Region villages of Komyshany and Zymivnyk. Insulated the house of a disabled volunteer in Hostomel and repaired one apartment and one house in Kherson, both of which were damaged by shelling. Delivered a cargo of fruit for children and poor families from Bukovina to Zaporizhzhia and handed off the minibus in which it was delivered to Inna’s team.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): took 16 children from military families to an open-air museum in Rokyni (Volyn Region). Held 4 art therapy sessions for 72 children with disabilities, children from large families and military families and IDP children. Helped 236 people with food, medicine and clothes.
NGO Angelia
On 11/15 and 12/6 respectively, the clinic went to the village of Stavyshche and the town of Tarashcha, both in the Kyiv Region. 223 people received 689 medical services, including visits to family doctors, ECG and urologists and blood, urine, sugar, TSH and lipogram tests.
Kseniia’s Team - NGO Livyj Bereh (“Left Bank”)
Livyj Bereh finished their 300th roof
3 roofs were completed last week in Slatyne near Kharkiv.
Kherson team more than made up for the disruptions last week delivering 451 packages in Kherson and 3 nearby villages
Kseniia continues to support hospice in Kharkiv housing 24 dying parents of Ukrainian soldiers.
Karina’s Team - We Save Dnipro
69 people in the shelter
Tetiana’s Team - Dopomoha Poruch
Delivered 150 aid packages to Kramatorsk, Donetsk region
Delivered 110 holiday gift sets to disabled kids in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region and distributed 110 aid packages to their families
Delivered 35 aid packages to Dobropillya, Donetsk region
Timur’s Team – Timur and Team
Delivered another 85 packages to Kivsharivka near the front line where volunteers have helped thousands this year
Distributed 200 aid packages in Saltivka
Special deliveries to 20 elderly with disabilities and 30 families with children in Kharkiv
Pavel and Olena’s Team - Touch of Heart and Dawn of Hope
1,680 packages distributed through the Mykolaiv office.
The team finished distribution of vegetables delivering 11.2 tons of vegetables to 470 families. These projects delivered 70 tons of vegetables to families in 19 villages.
Brought 1.5 tons of water to Novopavlivka
Dnipro warehouse continued collecting, refurbishing and distributing clothing to families in need, mostly IDP families.
Andriy’s Team – BF Pomahaem
Performed water delivery to foster homes
The team is focusing on projects distributing support payments provided by the German government to more than 500 families in deoccupied regions
10 tons of water delivered to Marhanets
Marina’s Team – Good Give Ukraine
150 aid packages were distributed in Zhovti Vody.
In Piatykhatky, Marina's team organized Christmas Charity fair to raise money for hospitals.
Dina’s Team -- Vilni Liudy – Vilna Krayina (“Free People - Free Country”)
Distributed 380 packages at regular centers
Mailed 200 packages to people in small towns in the Luhansk region.
Bogdan’s Team - Vse robymo sami
43 families received food and hygiene packages in Zhitomyr.
Walls are being finished in a new Inclusive Children's Center "House of Joy." The team aims to have the Center ready for kids by the New Year. Meanwhile, volunteers, who are mostly parents themselves, organized a winter celebration play for all the children.
Anastasia’s Team - LoveUA
Delivered to Oleksiivka and Druzhkivka 217 childrens gifts and 300 humanitarian aid packages, as well as pet food, detergent, hygiene items, and 75 gas canisters.
Alena’s Team – Virgo
Organized a holiday event for 260 children living in Kotliarova and nearby villages in Kherson region. She distributed gifts, fruit and yogurt and brought diapers for families with infants.
How to Help
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