October 5, 2023


56,314 people evacuated from danger to date

185 people evacuated from danger this week

37 trips into the deoccupied and frontline territories


We’ve partnered with Inna Kampen’s organization Step with Hope on a major project to provide firewood to frontline villages. This project was developed based on discussions with our teams. The consensus opinion was that this winter, Ukraine is likely to see renewed vicious attacks on civilian infrastructure, making it particularly hard to survive the winter in previously occupied areas.

The first village we are working with is Mospanovo. Volunteers hoped that this year the gas and electricity lines would be restored. Unfortunately, that did not happen and at this point will most likely not happen until next year. Inna’s team identified 30 families that are particularly vulnerable and delivered 60 tons of firewood to them. This firewood should last them about three months from the onset of the winter cold.

Our plan is to support 1,000+ families in deoccupied territories, potentially expanding this critically important project provided our fundraising efforts allow for a larger distribution. Our teams’ infrastructure and experience would let them scale this project using our local connections for up to 5,000 families, but we plan to move carefully ensuring that the people we start helping receive adequate help that can sustain them through the winter.

Special announcement

For those in Chicagoland this weekend, please join us on Sunday, 10/8, at 10:30am CT at the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago (7574 Lincoln Ave, Skokie, IL), to meet Kseniia (Livyj Bereh) on a special visit from Ukraine and the UTC Chicago team. RSVP and more information here.
Stories

This story is from the Dobra Sprava team

Boys, do you have anything sweet? I want candy so badly. I haven’t had any in a very long time," Babusya Zina asks us timidly. She is tiny and very thin. This is what stood out to us from our trip last Thursday to Chasiv Yar, which is shelled daily by the enemy. This city, which used to have a population of more than 13,000 people, now seems like a ghost-town with only about 800 people remaining. There is no electricity, no gas, no water, no heat. None of the infrastructure is functional, and there are innumerable burned out buildings. It is very sad and painful… This time we were able to bring 500 kg of humanitarian aid in the form of food, and evacuate 7 people. Babusya Zina received some aid as well, including the sweets she’s been craving.

 

Babusya Zina

 

Operations in the Occupied Territories

More than 10 people were evacuated from the Russian occupied left bank this week. All of them elderly and many of them severely disabled (dementia, schizophrenia, mobility issues, amputations, even gangrene). None of these people had planned to leave, but the hardships of the occupation, including shelling, lack of basic necessities and medicine, and the flood following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam finally forced them to go.

Meanwhile, thanks to our volunteer networks, 310 people received help in the 5 towns in the occupied territories.

 

Reunion after escape from the left bank

 

Help to Kharkiv Region

When we were going through the weekly reports we noticed that Pavlo distributed 420 packages in the Kharkiv region, in remote villages near Izyum. 420 packages usually require at least 2 trucks or 2 minivans to deliver, which is a pretty major effort, and we were curious to learn more about this expedition. Olena replied that once a month they provide help to the foster families and families that raise children with disabilities in the region. They’ve been working with two volunteers there; one of them came from the US and was using his personal vehicle for these missions. Recently the American volunteer had to come back home and Vitaliy no longer had access to a car or people to help him. The team decided to help and arrived with the vehicles to distribute this much-needed help.

Team summaries

 
 

Ihor NGO Sprava  (“Good Cause”)

  • 16 trips evacuating 173 people.

  • Delivered 0.5 tons of aid to Nyu York (a city in Donetsk region).

Anastasia - NGO LoveUA

  • 327 packages of aid distributed to the towns of Druzhkyvka and Semenivka.

 
 

Inna’s Team

  • 25.8 tons of aid delivered to 8,350 people in 40 towns and cities.

  • 9,500 people received bread.

  • Flood relief in Kherson:

    • Installed 3 dehumidifiers.

    • Disinfected 5 buildings (2 of them are large highrise basements).

    • Performed 16 generator maintenance tasks.

  • Three trips to Kramatorsk and Mykolaivka delivering aid for 80 families.

  • Along with aid distribution volunteers facilitated a celebration for children still living there and sessions for psychological rehabilitation for children and adults.

  • 30 families received firewood in the village of Mospanovo.

  • 1.4 tons of water delivered to Podorne village near Nikopol that suffers from water shortages since Kakhovka Dam destruction.

 
 

Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks

  • Pavlo V (Dnipro): Delivered 1,000 kg of groceries and 120 hygiene kits to more than 130 people in the vicinity of Kryvyi Rih and targeted aid to 20 people in other parts of the Dnipropetrovsk Region. Also distributed 570 loaves of bread in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

  • Oleksandr S (Boyarka): distributed 1.5 tons of groceries in Chernatske (Sumy Region).

  • Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): transported 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 14 tons of water from Mykolaiv to Kherson.

  • Yuri S (Vinnytsia): Brought 2 boxes of sweets and 5 boxes of stationery for 60 children at an orphanage in Vinnytsia. Sent 2 tons of grain to Mykolaiv. Delivered 700 kg of cereals to the Emmanuel IDP aid center in Vinnytsia.

  • Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): held 3 art therapy sessions for 53 children with disabilities, internally displaced (IDP) children and from large families and children of military families. Distributed 142 pairs of glasses and sunglasses. Helped with food and staged activities for 162 children with disabilities, IDP children and children from large families.

  • Natalia B (Kherson): distributed 40 dairy food sets to 10 families with disabilities and/or children.

 
 

NGO Angelia

  • Delivered an x-ray machine, 500 kg of groceries and 1,900 kg of medical supplies to Kyiv. Delivered 1,800 kg of groceries, diapers and clothes for children to Ochakiv (Mykolaiv Region).

  • Angelia Mobile Clinic: Ukrainian and foreign doctors traveled to Chernivtsi. 951 people received 3,736 medical services.

 
 

Kseniia’s Team - NGO Livyj Bereh

  • 4 more roofs restored in Slatyne, Kharkiv region.

  • Despite ongoing shelling, Svitlana’s Kherson team provided help to Berislav. Exact number of packages delivered will be confirmed in the next report.

 
 

Natasha - Vysnia Volunteer Center

  • Tetiana from Kryvyi Rih delivered 120 packages to Nova Osokorivka, the last of three trips planned for September to support them.

Karina - We Save Dnipro

  • 78 people in the shelter.

  • Helped deliver medicine to families and hospitals in Nikopol, Marhanets, and Dnipro.

Alena’s Team - Virgo

  • The cleaning crew in Kherson continues to help clear houses along the Rybnaya street. There are more than 800 houses impacted by the flood. So far the team has cleaned and disinfected 300 of them.

Tetiana’s Team - Dopomoha Poruch

  • Distributed 275 aid packages to internally displaced refugees in Smila.

 
 

Timur’s Team-Timur and Team

  • Distributed 200 packages in Saltivka, Kharkiv.

  • Delivered 300 packages to Kivsharivka in Kupiansk region.

  • Installed foam to seal broken windows.

 
 

Pavel and Olena - Touch of Heart and Dawn of Hope

  • 2,760 people received aid in Mykolaiv.

  • 6 tons of water delivered to Novopavlivske and Kobzartsi.

  • Volunteers traveled to the Kharkiv region near Izyum, distributing 420 aid packages for 1,278 people in the villages of Pidvysochanske, Myrne, Pidvysoke, Spivakivka.

 
 

Andriy  - BF Pomahaem 

  • 18.5 tons of aid:

    • 210 packages went to Pershotravneve in Kharkiv region.

    • 280 packages were delivered to Fedorivka and Yevhenivka in the Kherson/Mykolaiv regions.

  • Delivered 6 tons of water to Marhanets.

  • Completed the next stage of the “Inspirational Grants” program providing small amounts of money to refugee children that need small-scale assistance to continue their pre-war music hobbies.

Marina – Good Give Ukraine

  • Marina's team resumed activities after a brief pause due to illness and distributed 150 food and hygiene packages in Saksahan last week.

  • Additionally, 120 aid packages were delivered to Kurakhivka in the Donetsk territory that heavily suffers from nearby war actions.

 
 

Dina - Vilni Liudy – Vilna Krayina

  • Distributed 380 packages of aid as well as clothes, pet food, medicine to displaced people in the regular distribution centers.

  • Sent 106 packages of aid to small towns.

  • Provided pet food to a dog shelter which evacuated from Bakhmut.

Bogdan - Vse robymo sami

  • This week again 42 displaced families in Zhitomyr received aid packages

 
 

How to Help

  1. Donate - The money goes directly to teams providing aid on the ground, who respond dynamically to the most urgent needs.

  2. Fundraise - Organize fundraisers at your school, work, place of worship, with friends and family, etc.

  3. Spread the word - Share our website, FacebookInstagramTwitter, or LinkedIn with your friends, family, and colleagues.

  4. Fill out this form if you’re interested in volunteering with us, and we’ll let you know when opportunities come up.

  5. 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.

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October 12, 2023

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September 28, 2023