Themes by tag: food

Larysa Bozhenko, the starosta (headman) of Orlove village in the Kherson region, lived under Russia control for three weeks. After her village was liberated from the invaders, she was offered to join the army ranks. Larysa decided that if serving as a cook, she would be able to repay the Ukrainian defenders for liberating her home from the enemy.

In addition, the 7th Arei Battalion was being formed at that time, and it has now become Larysa’s second family. One of Larysa’s brothers serves in the Arei. Another brother is now on the front line in another battalion. Every day, about 400 military members expect Larysa to prepare food for them.

Larysa is ready to give interviews to journalists at her place of service in the Donetsk region. You can also talk to her online.

• food
• military
• occupation
• women

Roman Pelekh, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, makes an old Ukrainian liqueur whose recipe was lost at the beginning of the last century. Before the full-scale invasion, Roman found 90 liters of alcohol called kontabas in an old abandoned hut in Zakarpattia and a notebook with a recipe. The drink’s main ingredient is blackcurrant buds, which are quite tricky to acquire. But Roman managed to resume production of the drink and even improved the recipe. After being wounded at the front and returning to civilian life, the man set up an actual kontabas production in Lviv.

• culture
• food
• military

Frankie and Coen, two well-known restaurant owners from the Netherlands, are visiting Ukraine for the twelfth time with their mobile restaurant. The men treat people with free French fries and snacks. During this trip, they will go around several Ukrainian cities. In particular, the volunteers will travel to Mykolaiv and Kherson to support people affected by the Kakhovka dam collapse. Later on, they will go to Donbas.  

Frankie and Coen also support orphanages and assist other humanitarian organizations in medicines and food package distribution in the frontline area. They also arrange hospital equipment transportation. 

• casualties
• food
• volunteers

The team of the World Central Kitchen charity organization is feeding people who are forced to evacuate from flooded areas due to the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP dam. In particular, they work in Kherson region, Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhia.

For reference: WCK has been working in Ukraine since the first days of russia’s full-scale invasion. In general, this organization funds and provides products to create food kits in countries and regions experiencing humanitarian, climate or man-made crises.

• casualties
• food
• russian crimes
• Kherson
• Zaporizhzhia

Journalists are invited to join the Volunteer Day at the environmentally responsible hot meal preparation and distribution center Dobra Kuchniya in Kharkiv on June 2. Each participant can volunteer at the soup kitchen and prepare meals for 800 Saltivka industrial district residents. 

Accreditation lasts until May 30, inclusive. Journalists from Kyiv will be provided with a transfer to and from Kharkiv.

For reference: Saltivka is a Kharkiv residential area to suffer the most from Russian shelling. More than half of the buildings there were damaged.

• food
• volunteers
• Kharkiv

Native Crimean woman, Yulia became the founder of the volunteer project “Stepanivski bees” in Vinnytsia region. During the full-scale invasion, people, who are willing to help, cook food to hand it over to the soldiers at the front. A production site was set up in the abandoned premises of the kindergarten. Both local residents and refugees work there to make delicious home-made dishes for the defenders (lamb shurpa, cabbage rolls, grains with meat and much more). Food is delivered in retort pouches, which are convenient for defenders at the front.

When russia occupied Crimea, Yulia had to leave her native peninsula.

In December 2022, her husband Volodymyr, who had been defending the country, died in the battles for Bakhmut.

• food
• military
• volunteers
• Vinnytsia

The Every Animal NGO team has been promoting veganism practice and is engaged in creating a vegan movement in Ukraine (they set up training courses on veganism, organize street animal protection actions, etc.). Since the outbreak of the full-scale war, activists have been sending vegan field rations to male and female soldiers, feeding people with free vegan food in 10 cities of Ukraine, and holding charity festivals called Vegan Weekend.
On April 22, the next Vegan Weekend charity festival will take place in Kyiv. This time, it is dedicated to women at the frontline (currently, more than 60 thousand women are defending the country). The event’s goal is to raise 150,000 UAH for vegan military rations for the Ukrainian Defense Forces and the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement or the needs of female defenders. Among other things, the event program includes interviews with female soldiers.

• food
• military
• volunteers
• Kyiv

On Thursday, April 20, people in Bucha will be treated to Ukrainian borscht and Neapolitan pizza for free. The charity event is organized by Help NGO in partnership with Pizza for Ukraine organization and Ukrainian pizza chef Ihor Savosin.

Dishes will be made in front of the visitors. Adults will be treated to borscht, and children will be treated to pizza. Hot tea and coffee will be available to everyone. The organizers expect to make 1,000-1,500 servings, so there will be enough for everyone.

• food
• Kyiv

On April 5, a charity event will start in Bucha. All visitors will be treated to real Ukrainian borscht and a hot pizza from the oven. This rally is organized by Help.NGO in partnership with Pizza for Ukraine organization and American chef Noah Sims.

Food will be cooked in public. Visitors will also be treated to hot tea and coffee. The organizers are making 1,000-1,500 helpings, so that there will be enough for everyone.

• food
• volunteers
• Kyiv

A field kitchen in the shape of a tipi (Native American tent) was put up in Sokilnyky, Lviv Oblast. There, the refugees are treated to vegan dinners. The menu may include, for example, roasted soybeans and wood-fired borscht. No electricity or gas is used for cooking. Within a day, volunteers make several hundred portions of food.

The field kitchen was put up with the help of the American organization “Altruist Relief Kitchen” from Alaska. Tipis may be installed in other cities of Ukraine in the near future.

• food
• volunteers
• Lviv