Although many may have forgotten about the war in Ukraine after nearly two years, the devastation continues. There are still over 3 million internally displaced persons in Ukraine, and there have been over 22,000 casualties since February 2022.
While the rest of the world may be moving on from Ukraine, Kidsave’s commitment hasn’t wavered. Our network of volunteers — known in Ukraine as the Angels of Hope — continue to deliver humanitarian aid across Ukraine and help children and families impacted by the war. This month, our team brought a little holiday joy with them as they went.
In addition to the heroic efforts you see below, our team is preparing to host a Christmas event for children in Kyiv for the youth in our Pathway to Success program youth, if they can do so safely. While we try regularly to plan fun activities to spread joy and boost morale during these difficult times, we always put the safety of the children and families we serve first.
The week of December 20, our team leaders Pavlo and Olena, a few alumni from our Pathway to Success program, and our Angels of Hope visited remote and devastated villages in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions where they were able to deliver gifts for 1500 children.
In addition to Christmas gifts, our team also handed out donated warm winter coats to kids. One girl received a fur coat and she said she could have never dreamed of receiving something so nice.
While there was much joy and happiness in receiving the gifts, our team was still surrounded by the destruction and devastation. One woman showed our volunteers the ruins of where her family used to live. Her two sons were killed on the frontlines. Today she lives in a half standing home, like so many Ukrainians do. To try to help them, our volunteers installed 20 wood-burning stoves to keep them warm and allow them to cook.
A team of volunteers—including several Supermentors who were once in our Pathway to Success program—traveled to a remote village within 15 meters of combat zones to deliver food to the people. Women and children are living in basements, barns, half-destroyed houses, whatever sort of shelter they can find, because they have nowhere else to go. The women and families were so grateful to our team, many were shedding tears of joy.
