Solar panels for our refugee food bank

You’ll have to forgive me, I’m usually late writing these reports every few months, mostly because I have a feeling the Ukraine thing just isn’t relevant to people outside this region anymore. There’s also the fact that we average only a few donations per month via GlobalGiving since New Year’s, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these links end up in spam…

Anyway, for those who are curious, we are still extremely busy with our core operation, food security. We manage the longest-running food bank in the city that serves over 2,000 families per week, we send a truck to visit 1-2 rural communities per week, and since February, a group of Ukrainian diaspora invited us to make weekly trips to Odesa and beyond. We even brought food to Kherson before the flood.

While most other refugee initiatives have long closed down, we’re still here, and we’re still trying, even though none of us have humanitarian backgrounds.

Our staying power is mostly because we approach the problem differently.

a) We provide the same food we feed our own families, and these days that means strawberries and salad greens and tomatoes and cucumbers. Fresh food, not sacks of rice and boxes of anonymous meat spread. It’s so much more work, to procure, pack and transport, but it pays off when you see their faces.

b) We support the local economy by buying over 90% of our fruits, vegetables and grains direct from Moldovan farmers and processors.

c) Over half our team are Ukrainians, we put them to work the first week, and many have said it’s important to have something stable in their life like packing at our food bank once a week, where they can socialize and feel useful.

d) We aim for more holistic relationships with our clients, by organizing cooking courses for all ages, from kids to retired, by teaching hard skills like construction basics or how to open and manage a private daycare. We’re working with a group of Ukrainian food entrepreneurs to open a cooperative café/catering business. And we drive around the country in our old hippie bus, organizing camps to integrate Ukrainian and Moldovan kids.

The main idea is we’re doing what we can in our small corner of Moldova, even though it’s small scale, low budget and amateur.

Thank you GlobalGiving and all our individual donors for helping us establish a strong foundation last year.

Links:

• Our hippie bus in action
• Keeping kids busy
• Running around Moldova