Some of the most heartbreaking stories and photos that Razom have received were from the Ukrainian Charity Alliance, a Kharkiv-based non-profit charitable organization currently focusing on helping people with limited mobility and the elderly.
Formed in September 2018 to unite various civil initiatives, the organization prioritized fighting poverty and supporting volunteer movement in the Kharkiv region. Their Instagram and Facebook feed were full of educational posts and reports about charitable projects like Share Food (in support of the Food for Life initiative), the UBA volunteer center (workshops for young volunteers), Give Love to a Child, and others. That stopped on February 23, 2022, because the following day changed everything. Now their only priority is helping people survive.
The endless pain and horror that russian troops brought to Ukraine affected everyone, especially the most vulnerable persons who had no means to fend for themselves. People with disabilities, the elderly, and families with many children, particularly those who remain in war zones or were displaced, are now entirely reliant on volunteer support.
The Ukrainian Charity Alliance is providing these people with food, medicine, and basic necessities, as well as assistance in finding shelter and rebuilding damaged homes. During the first few days of the full-scale invasion, they distributed 400 kg of food, managed to fundraise 20,000 UAH to buy supplies for 50 families living in the bomb shelters, and assisted in evacuating people from Kharkiv.
Razom for Ukraine provided the Ukrainian Charity Alliance with multiple grants totaling $150,000 that resulted in 6,880 food kits with long shelf life. All assistance was provided to people in residential areas of Kharkiv and its region that suffered significant damage, as well as communities that accommodated a large number of internally displaced people from the occupied territories. Volunteers distributed the food packages and hand-delivered them to people with limited mobility.
Each kit included:
Pasta – 2 kg
Rice grain – 2 packs
Wheat grain – 2 packs
Buckwheat grain – 1 kg
Canned meat – 2-3 pcs
Canned fish – 2 pcs
Oil – 1 liter
Sugar – 1 kg
Chocolate – 1 pc
Snacks – 2 pcs
Tea – 1 pack
In June, our board member Maryna Prykhodko, a Kharkiv-native, joined the Ukrainian Charity Alliance on their trip to deliver aid to Zolochiv, a town in the Kharkiv region located just 10 km from the border with russia that was under occupation for three months. You can find out more about her experience and Razom’s partnership with UCA in our Facebook posts.
Kyrylo is a young guy who fell off the sixth floor and broke both legs before the full-scale invasion started. He spent a long time in a hospital but couldn’t afford a costly list of prescribed medications and painkillers. Being completely immobilized and fighting excruciating pain, he needed help to survive the new reality of the treacherous russian war that targets Ukrainian residential areas.
Trying to get assistance, he reached out to various organizations, but nobody believed him. His young age and a request for scheduled drugs labeled him a drug addict. Thankfully, one of the Rescue Now volunteers decided to give him a chance and requested his hospital records and prescriptions, identification information, and photos. After he provided all the paperwork, volunteers visited him in person, and it became apparent – he lives alone and can’t survive on his own. Now he has people supporting him, providing humanitarian aid and much-needed assistance in getting to the doctor’s appointments.
Moreover, Rescue Now offered Kyrylo to join their initiative. He’s already attending online meetings, and everyone says he’s an awesome guy who needed a chance to fight his circumstances. He’s eager to become of service, has already completed the call-center operator training, and will soon join the Rescue Now team as a full-time volunteer.
A family of three – parents 58 and 56 years old, and their 34 years old son – adults who various organizations rejected because they were supposed to be able to fend for themselves. Except their house burned down with all their belongings, they had no savings left, no warm clothes, no food, and they couldn’t find jobs because the war was raging in their city. Rescue Now is the only organization that took them under their wing and helped them survive the hardship.
A lonely old lady who couldn’t move on her own needed a wheelchair and assistance to get home from the hospital. The ambulance refused to help her because they only give rides TO the hospital, not FROM it. It’s hard to imagine the horror she’d be in if it weren’t for volunteers from Rescue Now!
These are only a few of the thousands of stories that Rescue Now deals with daily. They have now evacuated over 17 000 people and even almost 1000 pets! More than 67 000 families received humanitarian aid packages. And while they prioritize assisting people with disabilities, limited mobility, and the elderly, they understand that not every situation is black and white. They refuse the cookie-cutter approach in their volunteer work and try to provide help to everyone who truly needs it during this horrific time.
In early April, they reached out to Razom, asking for assistance evacuating and feeding people. By now, Razom for Ukraine has provided them with five grants totaling $140,000. All funds went towards evacuations (including those for people with special needs) and the formation and delivery of humanitarian aid packages. Rescue Now has proved to be a trusted and invaluable partner in Ukraine’s fight for peace and freedom.
As per Razom Grants Team mandate, our most important goal is to prepare the Ukrainian people for the brutal winter that is just around the corner. Rescue Now team is doing the same. They urgently need funding for the transit evacuation center in Pokrovsk, equipping the evacuation teams with radios, gear, and winter/snow tires. Their top priority is to supply shelters and internally displaced people with generators, heaters, portable stoves, warm clothes, and blankets.
Rescue Now volunteer efforts are indispensable. Thousands of people are alive and safe because of their work and determination. Watch the video to get acquainted with these wonderful people, and don’t forget to spread the word!
Taxi fleet, CRM, and logistics are the three components that make the charitable organization “Yellow Help” incredibly efficient and successful in its mission. When russia started the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, three fellow entrepreneurs got together and organized a volunteering initiative to address the humanitarian crisis in Kharkiv. More than 70 volunteers have joined the team, and now they pack and deliver over 800 food aid packages daily.
Mykola Minaev, the founder of the Yellow Taxi service, stayed in Kharkiv and turned 54 cars from his taxi fleet into evacuation vehicles. Oleksiy Siromolot, an entrepreneur and business automation specialist, established the call center and introduced an improved CRM system that supports the fund’s operations. Oleksandr Kusayko, the head of the construction company, organized the supply of humanitarian aid in warehouses in Kharkiv and set up logistics. As a result, Yellow Help evacuated more than 5,000 families during the first days of the war and set up a sustainable food aid delivery system.
Today Yellow Help has multiple projects:
“Save lives” is focused on providing food aid.
“A place of rest” works on creating district aid centers.
“The health of Kharkiv residents” offers medical consultations and medicine delivery.
“Hearing Ukraine” helps people whose hearing has been affected by the war.
“The united informational call center 5505.”
5505 is the latest Yellow Help project and a number that all Kharkiv residents should remember and share with those who need help the most. Calling 5505, people can get phone consultation on evacuation, food assistance, medical, psychological, and legal issues.
Yellow Help reports its work and achievements on the official website yellow-help.com.ua, Instagram @yellow_help_kh, Facebook @yellowHelpKh, and Telegram t.me/yellow_help.
The high level of efficiency, professionalism, and, most importantly, the huge commitment to Kharkiv and its residents attracted the attention of Razom for Ukraine. That’s why, when humanitarian aid stopped flowing into the Yellow Help’s warehouses, Razom granted them $130,000. These funds have already purchased over 100 tons of food and 20,000 liters of fuel and will ensure the formation and delivery of about 15,000 food aid kits per month.
What does it mean to build a civil society? Can Ukraine become a model of new statehood where volunteer initiatives surpass the professionalism and efficiency of foreign organizations and government agencies? In the interview for Razom, co-founder and chairman of the PFVMH Supervisory Board, Gennadiy Druzenko shares his perspective.
Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital, or PFVMH, began to form after an attempt to disperse the Euromaidan in Kyiv by force on November 30, 2013. Volunteers, doctors, and medical professionals set up improvised medical brigades and later formed underground hospitals to help the victims of the Revolution of Dignity. In December 2014, PFVMH started working in the ATO zone. Over the next five years, more than half a thousand volunteers – physicians, paramedics, and support staff – did more than fifty rotations in the ATO area (later the JFO zone). They saved thousands of lives, and people started calling them the Angels in White Coats.
On February 24, 2022, russia launched its infamous and insidious war. Once again, the angels went where people needed them the most. For almost four months now, volunteer doctors, working in difficult frontline conditions and risking their lives, have been providing medical care to the victims: first in Kyiv and Zhytomyr, and since May in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Lending a hand to mobile military hospitals, PFVMH has now set up its evacuation and stabilization points in Chasiv Yar and Sloviansk. Evacuation carriages also reach the Luhansk region near Lysychansk.
Donors and doctors from around the world join the project and help save the lives of military and civilian victims. Medical professionals from Germany, Austria, France, Great Britain, Canada, and the US have come to do the rotations. For example, in May this year, Jennifer Malley, a California emergency nurse, was part of one of the PFVMH crews. She was impressed by the results that Ukrainian doctors achieved with minimal resources and compared russia’s war against Ukraine with the biblical David and Goliath.
From its creation until today, PFVMH has existed exclusively on non-state funds. Since April 2022, Razom for Ukraine has been assisting the hospital with tactical medicine and has provided a grant of $95,000. These funds have already purchased a bus to evacuate the wounded and transport medics and fuel. During the war, the need for mobile equipment is exceptionally high. Right now, PFVMH requires a portable X-ray ($40,000) and armored ambulances.
It is important to understand that Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital is not only about medical care but also the community and the dedication of volunteers who save thousands of people. “This is the prototype of future Ukraine. We owe it to those who gave their lives for it.” – Gennadiy Druzenko
Уроки людяності та успішного громадянського суспільства від ПДМШ ім. Миколи Пирогова
Як виглядає незалежне громадянське суспільство побудоване на принципах самоорганізації, волі та відповідальності? Чи може Україна стати зразком нової державності, де волонтерські ініціативи перевершують професійність та ефективність іноземних організацій чи державних установ? На ці та інші питання в інтервʼю для Razom відповідає Геннадій Друзенко – співзасновник і Голова Наглядової Ради ПДМШ ім. Миколи Пирогова.
Перший добровольчий мобільний шпиталь або ПДМШ почав формуватися ще 30 листопада 2013 року. Тоді, після спроби силового розгону Євромайдану в Києві, було створено імпровізовані медичні бригади, а потім і підпільні шпиталі, які допомагали постраждалим учасникам Революції Гідності. А вже у грудні 2014 року ПДМШ як системний проєкт розпочав свою діяльність в зоні АТО. За наступні пʼять років більше півтисячі добровольців – медиків, парамедиків, допоміжного персоналу – здійснили більше пʼятдесяти ротацій у зоні АТО (пізніше зона ООС). Вони врятували тисячі життів і отримали цілком виправдане звання янголів у білих халатах.
24 лютого 2022 року росія розпочала свою ганебну, підступну війну – і янголи вирушили туди, де їх найбільш потребують. Вже майже чотири місяці медики-добровольці, працюючи у тяжких прифронтових умовах і ризикуючи своїм життям, надають медичну допомогу постраждалим: спочатку у Київській та Житомирській, а від травня – у Донецькій та Луганській областях. Підставивши плече військовим мобільним госпіталям, ПДМШ наразі облаштували власні евакуаційно-стабілізаційні пункти у Часовому Яру та Словʼянську, а евакуаційні екіпажі доїжджають також до Луганщини в районі Лисичанська.
Донори й лікарі з усього світу долучаються до проєкту та допомагають рятувати життя військових і цивільних, постраждалих від війни. На ротаціях вже були лікарі з Німеччини, Австрії, Франції, Великої Британії, Канади та США. Так, наприклад, у травні цього року в складі одного з екіпажів ПДМШ працювала Дженніфер Маллі – медсестра невідкладної допомоги із Каліфорнії. Вона була вражена результатами, яких українські медики досягають маючи мінімальні ресурси, і порівняла війну росії проти України з біблійними Давидом та Голіафом.
Від моменту створення і до сьогодні, ПДМШ існує виключно на недержавні кошти. З квітня 2022 року Razom for Ukraine допомагає шпиталю тактичною медициною та надали грант у розмірі 95 000 доларів США. На ці кошти вже було придбано бус для евакуації поранених та транспортування медиків, а також паливо. Але в умовах війни необхідність у коштах для придбання високотехнологічного мобільного обладнання особливо висока. Наприклад, наразі ПДМШ потребує портативний рентген (40 000 доларів США) та броньовані швидкі.
Сьогодні дуже важливо розуміти, що Перший добровольчий мобільний шпиталь ім. Миколи Пирогова – це не тільки про медичну допомогу, це про спільноту і самовідданість добровольців, які продовжують рятувати тисячі людей. “Це прообраз і паросток майбутньої України, за яку не буде соромно перед тими, хто поклав за неї життя.” – Геннадій Друзенко
Given humanitarian needs change by the hour and come from multiple geographical points at the same time, Razom awards grants to grassroots initiatives in Ukraine who are responding quickly to the needs of civilians and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
As of today 40 Ukrainian non-profit organizations have received grants from Razom supporting their much-needed work in the regions. The total amount of over $1.6M has been awarded to the grantees, with a large portion of it going to our Razom partner of many years – Building Ukraine Together (Будуємо Україну Разом), whose hard work is currently fully dedicated to helping IDPs and Ukrainians in the most war-affected areas.
Here are some of other amazing Razom grantees and their impact:
Ukrainian Charity Alliance (Український Благодійний Альянс) was awarded $16,000 to create and deliver over 780 kits of food essentials that have a long shelf life for civilians with low mobility in the Kharkiv region. They also provided humanitarian aid for shelters housing those that lost their homes in the bombing and occupation of regions surrounding Kharkiv. World-renowned poet, writer, native-Kharkivite, and Razom partner, Serhiy Zhadan attended some of those shelters to help deliver aid.
The charity organization Call of the Heart (З покликом в серці) received a grant to do their critical work in Chernihiv. They wrote: “For 2 months these people were without food, there were enemies surrounding their homes, the neighboring homes were burned down. People lived in terror and anticipation because their villages were occupied. Now they are free from invaders but they faced a humanitarian catastrophe. A few days later, our volunteers brought humanitarian aid to five villages in the Chernihiv region. Almost 1,000 people received food packages with canned food, groceries, cookies, condensed milk, halva, nuts, baby formula, etc., and personal hygiene products.”
The Korsaks’ Museum of Ukrainian Modern Art in Lutsk was awarded $16,000 to help operate a shelter for evacuees and refugees in Ukraine. In April alone, they provided 12,983 days of shelter for IDPs, including 120 permanent residents (all 30 days) and 1,163 temporary residents (4 days on average). They converted a section of “Adrenalin City” (the local Lutsk mall) and adjacent hostel into a shelter filled with beautiful modern art from the museum founder’s personal collection. The group runs frequent art, craft, yoga, breathing, dancing, and performance art workshops for kids and adults, providing ample opportunity for IDPs to rehabilitate and recover.
Volonterska UA was awarded $30,000 to deliver food and medicines to the elderly and people with disabilities in Kharkiv. With this grant, volunteers were able to deliver medicine to 770 Kharkivites who desperately needed it, delivered more than 4,400 food packages directly into the hands of those in need, and even purchased and delivered pet food around Kharkiv. Their call center receives 1,000 calls daily and has built up a team that can process 300-350 requests per day.
We are grateful to these amazing volunteers for their hard work! And thank you to all the Razom’s supporters and donors for making this all possible!
Follow Razom on social media to see more updates from Razom Grants team. For any inquiries and with questions about the grant program, write to grants@razomforukraine.org.
From the first days of russian’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine, our long-time partner organization “Building Ukraine Together” (БУР/BUR) shifted their focus to helping Ukrainians in and from the most affected cities and towns. Having a trusted partner on the ground is a great benefit for Razom to make a faster impact given BUR has a large network of skilled and reliable volunteers across Ukraine thanks to years of organized rebuilding projects and camps all over the country. Now, during the war, these volunteers have transformed into agents of support to the most vulnerable groups in war-torn areas.
In early March, Razom decided to provide a second grant to help accelerate BUR’s efforts. From the latest BUR report, we can see that the funds were well spent, efficiently closing the gaps in provision and support. According to the report, between March 24 – April 10 in cooperation with other Ukrainian Education Platform’s programs, BUR teams have managed to:
help over 3,000 people with humanitarian supply in 12 oblasts of Ukraine;
place over 20,000 people in temporary shelters and homes in the west of Ukraine;
rebuild a destroyed roof in a Kharkiv multi-family building;
organize and financially help with evacuation of over 1,300 people, including people from Mariupol through pastor Gennadiy Mokhnenko;
help a Kyiv volunteer group feed elderly people in the bomb shelters/hospitals and medical personnel (supporting over 1,000 people overall);
prepare and launch two volunteering camps that will revamp homes for over 60 IDPs in Drohobych/Ivano-Frankivsk;
fund a sewing business that will employ 5 IDPs in Lviv region in 1 month and over 15 in 2 months;
deliver 75 fridges for blood preservation to 50 hospitals around Ukraine.
Humanitarian aid delivered to DniproMedicines for Luhansk region’s hospitalIDP support center IDP reception, LvivIDP housingIDP housingDelivery of fridges for blood preservationA fridge for blood preservation delivered to Dnipro’s hospitalA fridge for blood preservation delivered to Odesa’s hospital
Thanks to BUR’s network, they successfully supported grassroots initiatives in the regions that have suffered most from the invasion. Here are a few of the stories from the BUR activists:
Anna Ryasna (Luhansk region): BUR delivered humanitarian aid for about 300 people in Dnipro. Anna Ryasna, a BUR volunteer, later transported it to Severodonetsk and Lysychansk. Fighting is currently taking place in these cities, and people have to stay in shelters for a long time, which is why there is a great need for food. Flashlights, batteries, mats, sleeping bags, medicines and food were delivered.
Ilya Bakumenko (Donetsk region): Ilya is a BUR-friend and a volunteer for the camps. He organized a humanitarian headquarters in the city of Soledar, which receives and provides assistance to displaced persons. There is already a problem with food supplies in the Donetsk region, so the headquarters needed a lot of help. Personal hygiene products and food (canned food, vegetables, cereal, flour, pasta) were delivered to Soledar for 500 people.
Kira Okhrimenko (Sumy region): Kira is a BUR camp volunteer, participant in the mentoring program and the BURlab project management school. She coordinated the delivery of humanitarian aid to several small villages in the Sumy region. Priority was given to remote settlements which were experiencing difficulties with transport connections. Namely, assistance was sent to 300 people: food kits and sweets, personal care products, household chemicals, baby formula, diapers.
In addition to all the aid listed above, BUR has helped provide personal medical aid packages and food packages to those in need in Kharkiv, thermal clothing for civil territorial defense units in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, sleeping bags for the support centers for internally displaced people in Poltava, Dnipro Zhytomyr and Donetsk regions, and other diverse support for Ukrainians, who have lost their homes. Learn more about BUR and their support at their page in social media.
We’d like to share an important update from our partner Building Ukraine Together (BUR) about how they have adapted their activities to support internally displaced persons (IDPs) since the russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th 2022.
Thousands of displaced families are in need of your help. Schools and community halls are being made available, but there is an immediate need for basic items – beds blankets, cooking utensils, and personal hygiene products. You can support BUR’s work by donating below. As a Razom partner, these donations are 501(c)3 deductible.
Cooperating with organizations to meet the needs of their volunteers who are at the forefront of defending Ukrainian freedom.
Communicating with volunteers who remain in the combat zone about humanitarian needs and evolving situation in the country.
Organizing the logistics of delivering supplies from Lviv to different Ukrainian cities.
In the early days of the full-scale war, Razom issued a $50,000 grant to support this work. Below is an overview of how those funds were used:
Procuring and delivering humanitarian aid – ranging from food, medicines, to sleeping bags – in Lviv, Kharkiv, Skadovsk and Kherson.
Preparing and delivering food for territorial defense units (civilian volunteers) and hospitals in Kharkiv.
Vehicle rentals for the transportation of this aid and evacuations of civilians (specifically from Kharkiv to Dnipro).
Purchasing of chainsaws for territorial defense units (civilian volunteers) and Emergency Services of Kharkiv to dismantle debris from the destruction and rescue people from rubble.
You can find updates from BUR on their social media:
Building Ukraine Together (BUR) is a program of the “Ukrainian Educational Platform“, which creates opportunities for youth to make changes in their country through volunteering. Ukrainian Educational Platform is a charitable organization (2000-2021 – Lviv Education Foundation). It has impacted positive change with more than 10 years of experience in social transformations. They believe in Ukraine, they unite, educate, and support people with leadership potential who create vibrant local communities through volunteer, educational, and social projects.
On October 18, our Razom Partner, Istorychna Pravda celebrated their 9th Birthday: founded on October 18th, 2010. Istorychna Pravda is an independent information resource of Ukrainian history with a large audience – more than 21 million users who access over 11 000 scientific and analytical publications by over 600 authors and 7 special projects. The only source of financial support is charitable donations (and hours of sweat equity of volunteered time).
In August 2019, representatives from all Razom Partner organizations met up in Kharkiv for the first time. Volunteers from many organizations spent 2 days working together: swapping stories and sharing expertise.
The campaign for President of Ukraine officially started in January. Razom volunteers hosted a presentation on Saturday, February 9 by three media professionals from Ukraine who spoke in New York City about the current media landscape. The intent was to provide a ‘crash course’ on the main media outlets so people following the events in Ukraine can be informed consumers of the news about the election.
