March 14, 2024
60,044 people evacuated from danger to date
153 people evacuated from danger this week
37 trips into the deoccupied and frontline territories this week
Thanks to your generosity, last week we completed our largest project to date. Ukraine TrustChain teams provided firewood to 74 remote and frontline villages of Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Donbas regions. 7,655 families received help. Volunteers coordinated by Inna Kampen and Oleksandr Davydiuk completed 177 trips with more than 200 trucks of firewood – 4,362 tons that they unloaded with their hands.
The deliveries were made with utmost care right to the door of the feeble, exhausted, mostly elderly men and women. Residents were running out of options for heating their homes and cooking food in the absence of electricity and gas. There were many gut-wrenching moments with drone attacks and shelling, blizzards and icy roads, but all the trips were completed, and, thanks to meticulous coordination and planning, none of the volunteers were hurt.
We are particularly proud of the deliveries into the red zones: Chasiv Yar, Siversk, Beryslav, Toretsk - where the most vulnerable people continue suffering from the terrorist onslaught inflicted on Ukraine by Putin’s armies. Projects of this size and complexity show the unique capabilities of Ukrainian volunteer networks to go against the current to the most dangerous areas and provide help.
Stories
Map of Firewood Deliveries
Water Delivery in Bilozerka District
During the last two weeks, we helped launch water delivery service in the northwestern corner of the deoccupied Kherson region. We’ve been providing help to the village of Pravdyno where our volunteers installed windows, brought food and collected some of the most harrowing stories painting the Boschian realities of Russian occupation. Despite ongoing danger and occasional attacks, the village is slowly rebuilding, coming back to life. By the end of 2023, water supply to the village was restored, but two smaller villages nearby were still left without water.
Anna purchased the right equipment - pumps, hoses, and found local activists who formally agreed to deliver water to these villages. Since the launch of the project, they have delivered 75 tons of water weekly. The water is usually stored in cemented underground dugouts called yamy. Our plan is to refill these on a monthly basis in a round-robin fashion with an agreement requiring the recipient to share water with neighbors who cannot store water.
Caring for Rey in Kherson
Along with hundreds of people whom Oleksandr Ushkan helped in Kherson last week, the team took care of a very special dog named Rey.
Rey’s family lived in the red zone experiencing frequent bombings, periodic blackouts; unstable heat and water supply made life in their home impossible. They decided to evacuate to Odesa but nobody wanted to take them in with the dog. The family asked the team to feed Rey, and they agreed. Myhail left the keys from his residence and dog food, and now every morning the team stops by to feed the dog, hoping that the nightmare of Kherson bombings would end, and Rey’s family would be able to return. Oleksandr’s report ended with these words: “We don’t leave anyone behind. We help everyone with love.”
Occupied Territories
325 packages were distributed in occupied territories, and 2 people were evacuated from the Russian-occupied left bank.
Alena’s trip to Komyshany, Antonivka, and Kherson
The shelling of Antonivka has increased since Alena’s last trip. Right before the team entered the town, there were 5 big explosions. The team met with families of 5 children who go to school online. Alena had laptops to give them, as well as 47 LED table lamps to share with their neighbors, and 5 packages of humanitarian aid.
The next stop was Komyshany, where a family of 11 received a much-needed washing machine they could not afford to buy, as well as some food packages.
Finally, the team continued to Kherson where they distributed the remainder of the food packages (125 packages, diapers, and 400 packages of milk) in the 5th district, and 60 food packages to the most vulnerable in a residential building in another part of the city. The residents of this building carry a special Ukrainian- protected status. They are survivors or widows of the Chernobyl clean-up crews and the war in Afghanistan.
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra Sprava (“Good Cause”)
15 trips completed and 151 people evacuated from Svyatohirs’k, Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, Kostyantynivka, Selydove, Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, Myrnohrad, Lyman, Druzhkivka, Kherson areas.
Inna’s Team – Krok z Nadiyeyu (“Step with Hope”)
8,100 people received 21.5 tons of aid
9,500 loaves of bread delivered
Final firewood delivery was completed last week with 63 families receiving 126 cubic meters (100 tons) of firewood in Druzhkivka in Donbas and Kyrylivka and Hontarevka near Kharkiv
Work in Kherson:
Performed exterminations in 9 buildings, dehumidified 1 building, and disinfected 3 living spaces;
29 equipment repairs and maintenance tasks.
Distributed 120 aid packages in Kostynatynivka and Druzhkivka.
Delivered aid to Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.
Delivered 800 (4 tons) water bottles to Nikopol and 6 villages in the vicinity.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S (Boyarka): Delivered 20 tons of humanitarian cargo to Chernihiv, for further distribution in the east of Ukraine, and to the border towns of Chernihiv and Sumy Regions. Distributed aid to 250 families in the Sumy Region villages of Pavlivka and Obody and 250 families in Kherson. Picked up nets, chemical heaters, gloves, helmets and helmet covers, socks, napkins and sweets from a volunteer center in Myla (Kyiv Region).
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): delivered 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 7 tons of water to Kherson.
Sandra S (Odesa): kitchen fed more than 2,200 people.
Kostya B (Uman): delivered 2 tons of groceries, pet food and warm clothes to the villages of Bilozerka and Pryozerne (Kherson Region) while being followed by a drone!
Vitaliy Z (Kharkiv): delivered 3 tons of aid to Chasiv Yar (Donetsk Region) in very dangerous conditions.
Oksana K (Lutsk): distributed clothing and backpacks to 25 children. Provided medication to a seriously ill woman from Ternopil. Sent a 20 kg package to Poltava Region. Provided 10 kg of aid each to two displaced families from Zaporizhzhia and one woman with cerebral palsy.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): held 3 art therapy sessions for 51 children with disabilities, internally displaced children, children from large families and from military families. Took 26 children to a “birdwatching zoo” activity. Helped 135 disabled children with food and clothes and took them on visits to the museum and recreational outings to a youth camp.
Kseniia’s Team - NGO Livyj Bereh (“Left Bank”)
2 buildings received new roofs in the village in Slatyne.
Kseniia is on a prospecting trip around Kharkiv.
Truck of roof metal was delivered to Kharkiv last week.
Darya delivered 60 packages to Kindrashivka and Kurylivka near the Eastern frontline.
Karina’s Team - My ryatuyemo Ukrainu Dnipro (“We Save Ukraine Dnipro”)
58 people live in the shelter.
Sent aid to 5 families in Nikopol.
Sent medicine to a family in Nikopol whose home was damaged by shelling.
Tetiana’s Team - Dopomoha Poruch (“Help is Near”)
Distributed 240 aid packages in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region – a town near the frontline. Tetiana’s team distributed aid to residents with disabilities living there as well as to those directly affected by a recent rocket strike on the town.
Timur’s Team – Timur i ego komanda (“Timur and Team”)
The team celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8th bringing gifts and flowers to 500 women in Saltivka and another 100 in Tishki.
Delivered 150 aid packages to Kupyansk.
Also delivered 78 packages to Kurylivka near the front where two grandmothers were just killed by rocket strikes a few days earlier.
Pavel and Olena’s Teams - (“Touch of Heart” and “Dawn of Hope”)
1,769 people received help last week.
10 tons of potatoes for planting, onions and carrots delivered to Partyzanske.
Delivered aid to 60 IDPs living in Mykolaiv.
1.5 tons of water delivered to Luch.
Kirill, Marina, Andriy - BF Pomahaem (“We Help”)
1,500 aid packages from World Vision were delivered over two trips to Zaporizhzhya. Ukraine TrustChain continues to sponsor transportation and vehicle repairs.
4 trips to Dnipro and Kharkiv regions to continue vetting people for the German government cash microgrants.
Natalia - Vyshnia Volunteer Center
Tetiana from Kryvyi Rih traveled to Myroliubivka and Trudoliubivka in the Kherson region.
Delivered 180 aid packages and 60 packages for children living there.
Marina’s Team – Good Give Ukraine
150 families received aid in Zhovti Vody.
Dina’s Team -- Vilni Liudy – Vilna Krayina (“Free People - Free Country”)
680 aid packages distributed, 100 mailed.
Helped an orphanage with 14 children in Kharkiv by providing fruit, clothes, and toys.
Bogdan’s Team - Vse robymo sami (“Doing everything ourselves”)
42 families received food aid and other items such as clothing, cribs, children's bikes, and car seats.
Children attended art classes, and cooking class where they learned to make salads, and took part in weekly sessions of games for psychological relief.
This week children with disabilities and their families also enjoyed trips to the library and theater.
Anna - Independent Nation
75 tons of water delivered in Pravdyne, Kherson region.
Alena’s Team – Virgo
Delivered aid to Komyshany, Antonivka and Kherson in the form of 5 laptops, 47 LED table lamps, 195 food packages, 400 packs of milk, and diapers for children.
How to Help
Donate - The money goes directly to teams providing aid on the ground, who respond dynamically to the most urgent needs.
Fundraise - Organize fundraisers at your school, work, place of worship, with friends and family, etc.
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Fill out this form if you’re interested in volunteering with us, and we’ll let you know when opportunities come up.
Download and print our flyer. Ask your local coffee shop if you can add it to the bulletin, or use it as part of your fundraiser.
