Ukrainian refugees pulled together in honour of their fellow citizens back home when they took part in an emergency food packing day in Coventry at the weekend.
It was all hands on deck at The Halo Centre in Binley when around 30 Ukrainians were among scores of volunteers at the event, organised by Feed The Hungry, on Saturday.
Led by the charity’s volunteers, it generated 500 parcels, each containing a mix of milk, cereal, coffee, pasta, pasta sauce, passata, juice, flour, tinned peaches, rice pudding and tinned vegetables.
The 38 Ukrainian volunteers came from Coleshill Manor – a former disused office complex in Sutton Coldfield that was redeveloped to rehome the refugees who, for the past eight months, have been supported and cared for by Mosaic Church, Coventry.
Coleshill Manor Project Manager Neil McElvenny said: “Working in collaboration with Warwickshire County Council we manage the Manor as a shared accommodation with supportive living, we assist our Ukrainian friends working together to help integration into the local community, with schools admissions and find work to help support their families here and in the Ukraine.
He added: “This small contribution is supporting their fellow Ukrainians still living in a war zone which is very challenging as the winters in the Ukraine are traditionally very cold experiencing anything from -4 to – 15+ without heating and lighting is beyond our imagination and we can only guess how difficult this is!
“As we are all aware, the war in the Ukraine is not on a traditional battlefield, it’s in the cities, towns and villages, impacting on the civilian population every day. Our Feed the Hungry programme will help 500 families with a week’s worth of essential items and food, however, more than that we feel it’s sending a message of hope and support in a small way.”
The packing event was timed to coincide with the Ukrainian Christmas celebrations which don’t end until next week and followed a similar event the previous evening involving IDY Youth group from Mosaic Church.
Feed The Hungry Director Canon Gavin Kibble MBE, said: “Over the last year Feed the Hungry has been involved with supplying humanitarian aid directly into the Ukraine, Romania and Moldova to support Ukrainian refugees. Locally we have supported many Ukrainian families through our Warwickshire based pantries with both food and clothes.
“One of team, Chloe Scanlon, who works at our Lillington Pantry suggested this packing event as part of the Ukrainian Christmas celebrations and this idea was taken up by a large community of Ukrainians living at Coleshill Manor.
“We think this is a unique event where Ukrainian families who have had to escape their country due to war, often leaving loved ones behind, are able to support other families in Ukraine.”
Volunteers at Feed The Hungry continue to appeal for donations to keep pace with escalating demand as thousands more Ukrainian residents prepare to flee the country which has been ravaged by war since February.
Through its network of six international offices and warehouses, the charity has so far delivered over 105 containers or lorries each containing 2,090 tons (2,730 pallets) of aid, into the heart of towns and villages with internally displaced refugees right across Ukraine and Moldova.
People can support this effort by sponsoring either a full pallet or a number of food parcels. Donations will help to provide resource and defray the cost of shipping in order to get the parcels to people who have lost everything.
Further information about how to support these events or donate, can be found here
CASE STUDIES
Oleg Mayyukhov
Oleg moved here from Kyiv six months ago after his wedding. Officially married before the war, they planned for the wedding itself to be in Kyiv in May but had to change their plans and got married in Brussels where his wife’s family was displaced to.
“The UK is doing so much for Ukraine. It was one of the first countries to react to this conflict and offered support and we want to help Ukrainian people too and this is our way of contributing because we love our country.
“This brings at least some help for 500 families. It’s more than just bringing food, it’s a big message of hope. Even those people who had to leave the country are still with Ukraine.
“Everyone here is full of enthusiasm and encouraged and it’s a privilege for us to be able to make this contribution. We’ve been living as one community at Coleshill Manor for a while which helps us work better together.”
Alina Kozina
She has been here since June with her mum and five siblings. Their houses were destroyed and a lot of their friends died.
“It was terrible times. I really respect Ukrainian volunteers and I wanted to be part of this. It’s also good to help people. It doesn’t matter who they are, Ukrainian or African. We believe in our heart that everything will be OK.”
Taras Dombrovskyi
Here with his wife, daughter, parents, sister, grandma, 83, and mother-in-law and her nephew.
“Here we are secure and blessed by amazing people taking care of us.
We try to take any opportunity to help Ukraine. For those Ukrainians who live near the front line in areas where supply is complicated, it will be vital for them, especially in the small villages. This is why we decided to be a part of it because for some people it could be the last hope.”
