November 9, 2023
57,193 people evacuated from danger to date
162 people evacuated from danger this week
29 trips into the deoccupied and frontline territories
At this difficult time we have some good news that we would like to share. A generous anonymous donor has agreed to match donations coming in November. These funds will help us cover some of the most important directions for us including providing roofs and windows in the Kharkiv region and helping one of our trusted teams to outfit a Children’s center near their distribution center in Zhytomyr. Please consider donating today or include us in your holiday giving plans. And as always, we are grateful to you for helping to spread the word.
Stories
Updates from Alyona on Help in Kherson
Alyona shared some concerning news with us from the village of Daryivka near Kherson: “The school in Daryivka where we were distributing aid is no longer a school. It was a hit. Children were studying online already, but the building was still used by teachers for administrative work and meetings. And there was a humanitarian hub there as well.”
However, other projects in the Kherson region are going well. In particular, Alyona reported that more people around Kherson are now getting roofs and windows repaired thanks to new volunteer organizations finally moving into these villages to help before winter. We are happy to see that this effort is growing and are proud that Alyona was at the forefront of this process. Our flexible funding, based on deep personal connection and trust, allows us to continue to support Ukrainians. We are able, for example, to help those that have lost proper titles and documentation on their places of residence, a common scenario in war-torn Kherson.
Firewood Project Continued
We continue to share details of the major firewood project that Inna’s team is facilitating, providing firewood to thousands of families in deoccupied regions. Due to heavy loads and complex logistics of the process we stay in close contact with the volunteers. The more we learn about the projects the more gratitude and admiration we have for the tireless meticulous planning, and fearless expeditions delivering large trucks of firewood over the destroyed roads to people who need it.
Each family gets approximately 2 tons of firewood which should last 2-3 months during winter. Some smaller villages do not have light or gas and, in those villages, we try to provide firewood to all remaining residents to avoid jealousy in small communities. In larger villages, the electricity is sometimes available but it is an expensive and unstable source for heating for rural houses. Usually, we focus on the villages where some of team members are based, and who can vet recipients ensuring that firewood is delivered to the most vulnerable groups first (the elderly, the sick, families with kids).
In conversations with us, volunteers share stories, such as this one, of people receiving aid:
“90% of homes are destroyed there and they survived without power for a year, usually by moving in together. We helped some of them last year with generators. The light is on now, but the wooded areas nearby are all mined so we have to bring in firewood from afar. One of these families moved from an even worse place. They survived for 6 months with a one- year-old in the basement. When they ran out of food, they had to get it from nearby villages, and Russians would try to hit their car with mortar fire. Once the artillery shell set their shed and house on fire, they started to put out the fire, and found another shell that went through the roof and got stuck near the old crib, but did not explode. After 6 months of this, they moved to another village nearby.
Helping in Beryslav
“Hell is the wrong word.” That’s how Svitlana described Beryslav last week. Yet she still delivered help to 60 families there. “The key is to be really fast. This time the shelling started while we were distributing, so we lay on the ground for a while and then continued.” Sitting less than a mile away from the enemy, the city, which is under continuous surveillance by enemy drones, was leveled by Russian artillery. Every vehicle, every group of people becomes a target. Despite all this, two of our teams have been able to provide aid there.
Another group is preparing to deliver firewood that is crucial for people planning to survive this winter heating their living spaces with potbelly stoves. While even away from the enemy lines, delivering large trucks with firewood over rugged roads is a major undertaking; it takes special ingenuity to do this successfully in Beryslav. Rather than using regular trucks, the team is renting a dump truck to deliver pre-packaged bundles. This will allow our team to dump the load quickly, and then deliver firewood to individual homes locally.
Help in the Occupied Territories
308 aid packages were distributed to people in four undisclosed locations in the occupied territories.
Team summaries
Ihor NGO Dobra Sprava (“Good Cause”)
16 trips and 162 people evacuated from Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Druzhkivka, Kostiantynivka, Toretsk, Pokrovsk and Kherson areas
Inna’s Team
26.8 tons distributed to 8,100 people; 40 towns visited
9,500 people received bread in 40+ cities
Flood relief in Kherson:
Increasing demand for dehumidifiers – installed in 18 buildings;
Disinfected and performed extermination services in 23 buildings’
Repaired 1 roof
Maintenanced 7 generators.
Donetsk battlezone region: 313 families helped in Kostyantynivka, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, and Mykolayivka
Delivered firewood to deoccupied Virnopillya, and Kamyshuvaha near Izyum
200 packages delivered to Balakliya (deoccupied area)
The Nikopol team leader has fallen sick and had to pause operations last week.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Pavlo V (Dnipro): Distributed 1.5 tons of grocery kits and personal hygiene products to more than 250 internally displaced people (IDPs) from the Donetsk region and 1,140 loaves of bread to the area around Kryvyi Rih and other locations in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Oleksandr S (Boyarka): delivered 800 kg of food products to border villages in the Sumy region and 2 tons of food aid to the Donetsk region (Siversk, Kramatorsk, Shakhove, Sloviansk and Myrnohrad).
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): transported 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 7 tons of water from Mykolaiv to Kherson.
Andriy P (Mykolaiv): brought a refrigerator truck from Germany filled with humanitarian aid and medical and rehabilitation equipment. The humanitarian aid was delivered to Mykolaiv, and the truck to Kramatorsk.
Sandra S (Odesa): kitchen fed more than 2,000 people.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): held 4 art therapy sessions for 65 children with disabilities, including IDPs. Helped 62 IDPs and children with disabilities with groceries, diapers and hygiene products. Held special events and a weekend club for IDPs and children with disabilities.
Natalia B (Kherson): distributed dairy products to 10 families, including children, people with disabilities, and the elderly.
Kseniia’s Team - NGO Livyj Bereh
5 homes received new roofs in Slatyne, Tsupivka
Despite vicious bombardments, 60 families received aid in Beryslav
24 packages delivered to Pryozerne
New batch of roof materials arrived in Slatyne for upcoming repairs in November-December
Karina - We Save Dnipro
64 people live in the shelter
Brought 16 boxes of medicines to Zaporizhzhya area
Tetiana’s Team - Dopomoha Poruch
Distributed aid packages in Donetsk region (185 aid packages total):
Dobropillia - 120 aid packages
Bilyts'ke - 65 aid packages
Distributed aid packages in villages in Kharkiv region (340 food aid packages and 28 packages with school supplies):
Stohnii - 18 aid packages
Andriivka - 14 aid packages
Baranivka - 46 aid packages
Tsylyuryky - 9 aid packages
Gressi - 22 aid packages
Petrivka - 59 aid packages
Sotnyts'kyi Kozachok - 32 aid packages
Borohi - 9 aid packages
Hur'iv Kozachok - 27 aid packages
Postol’ne - 18 aid packages
Snihy - 11 aid packages
Kovali - 46 aid packages
Martynivka - 24 aid packages
Timur’s Team-Timur and Team
Distributed 300 packages of aid in Saltivka
Delivered diapers for 67 families with babies
Completed window repairs in another 4 apartments before the winter
Pavel and Olena - Touch of Heart and Dawn of Hope
Mykolaiv office distributed aid to 2,643 people
6 tons of water brought to Kobzartsi and Novopavlivske
1,260 packages were assembled and transported to Kharkiv region
Purchased vegetables and began distributions of large amounts (~50 pounds per family) in Novohryhorivka
Andriy - BF Pomahaem
18 families received clothes at the Dnipro warehouse.
The team is preparing home repairs in Chernihiv; the rebuilding itself hasn’t begun yet as building materials and key vendors are being lined up for the first 17 homes to be fixed.
Marina – Good Give Ukraine
42 families received aid in Zhytomir
Dina - Vilni Liudy – Vilna Krayina
Distributed 630 packages of food in Krasnokutsk, Kremenchuk, Poltava, Dnipro, Kanev
Distributed 5,000 candles to 1,000 displaced families in Poltava
Repaired 3 vans in Kharkiv that will allow Sergey T and the Holy Generation team to continue delivering aid to high-risk areas
Bogdan - Vse robymo sami
42 families received aid in Zhytomir.
At the children's club for those with disabilities, run by the public organization "We Do It Ourselves," kids continue to learn basic skills, including cooking this week.
How to Help
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