“Do your part": philanthropists support a cheese factory run by veterans who rescue animals from the frontline

“Do your part": philanthropists support a cheese factory run by veterans who rescue animals from the frontline

Kyiv  •  UNN

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Zelenyi Hai Farm and Cheese Factory won the Do It Yourself competition and received a grant to purchase equipment. The company, founded by veterans, also rescues animals from the frontline areas and provides animal-assisted therapy.

The Zelenyi Hai farm and cheese factory, located in the village of the same name in Dniprovskyi district, Dnipro region, has won the Do Your Own business idea competition, which has been held by the MHP-Hromada Charitable Foundation for three years in a row. The business is owned by former military spouses Yevheniia Molchanova and Anatolii Pylypenko, who met in a military hospital during the ATO. UNN writes about the history of the business and its role in saving people and animals, citing regional media.

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Yevheniia and Anatolii started a cheese farm a few years ago. First, they bought a small plot of land in the village of Zelenyi Hai, 40 kilometers from Dnipro. They set up a house and a cheese factory there.

The modular farm was built using Canadian technology, which is an example of animal welfare, as the cows are fed using special technologies and listen to classical music, which produces healthy and extremely tasty A2 milk. The average fat content of milk in the herd is 7-8%, with some cows producing 11%, not the usual 3.9-4.2%. In fact, it is cream. Almost 60 types of unsurpassed cheese are produced here exclusively from their own raw materials.

Today, Zelenyi Hai is not only a full-cycle farm and cheese factory. It is the most popular green tourism destination in the region, as well as an educational base for farmers, social entrepreneurs, and veterans.

In addition, in 2022, Yevheniia and Anatolii's farm became an island of rescue and later a rehabilitation center for hundreds of animals evacuated from the war zone and frontline areas. At different times, there were from 400 to 1200 of them. Currently, about 600 live here permanently, including horses, cows, mules, and goats.

The stories of the rescued animals are both inspiring and shocking. For example, Mamula, a donkey, was rescued by the K2 unit from Siversk. Her baby was killed during the shelling, and she herself received a mine-blast wound, part of her leg was amputated. In Zelenyi Hai she underwent several surgeries, and then, with the help of veterinarians from Ukraine, Australia and the United States, she underwent prosthetics for the first time in Ukraine.

Ray, a dog from Bakhmut, lived in the fortress city with his owners and did not know grief until the full-scale invasion. But people abandoned him when they evacuated. First his owners, and then his neighbors, who left him with them. Ray got a concussion and had almost no chance of survival, but he was lucky - with the help of volunteers, the dog ended up in Zelenyi Hai, where he was adapted to a peaceful life. Nowadays, he is a completely happy animal, whose former injuries are only reminded of his violent reaction to thunder and explosions, as well as epilepsy.

The real hero of the war is the donkey, Hymers. He served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donetsk sector, transporting food and ammunition to military positions where vehicles could not pass due to constant shelling. Later he ended up in Odesa and lived near a grain terminal. Due to the intensification of shelling, Heimers was evacuated to the Dnipro region. And a miracle happened. In the evening, the donkey was taken away, and at night his enclosure was destroyed by an explosion. Now the donkey is a favorite of all the guests.

And now rescued animals are treating people. Animal-assisted therapy, canine-assisted therapy (a method of rehabilitation using specially trained and selected dogs - ed.), equine-assisted therapy - all these practices are successfully used at the Zelenyi Hai cheese farm to rehabilitate children, military personnel and anyone who needs help and support.

Despite the war in the country and the difficult economic situation, the MHP-Community Charitable Foundation, together with our strategic partner, Oril-Leader PJSC, continues to implement projects that help develop and scale small and medium-sized businesses. Thus, with pride and pleasure, we presented the award for winning the project of the Do Your Own business idea competition to the owners of the Zelenyi Hai farm and cheese factory. This business is not only a farm business, but also a veteran business. Yevhenia Molchanova's project is called "Superpower Farm. Increasing productivity". The winner was awarded a grant of up to UAH 100 thousand by MHP-Community Foundation to purchase a front-end loader, with another UAH 112 thousand contributed by the business owners

- said Oleksandr Shpil, head of the social development team at MHP-Hromada.

He also added that in 2024, more than 600 applications from different regions of Ukraine were submitted to the "Do Your Own" business idea competition. The Foundation selected 80 winners and provided them with funds to co-finance their projects.

"By our own example, we show how big business, as well as the Charitable Foundation, engage in activities and support small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine. We do not perceive them as competitors, on the contrary, we help them because this is how we develop communities and support the state's economy. It is especially important that the owners of the cheese factory, Yevheniia and Anatolii, do not stop there, but are constantly looking for opportunities for development and scaling. "Zelenyi Hai is a role model and a model for many Ukrainian entrepreneurs," said Oleksandr Splodytel, Director of Oril-Leader PrJSC.

Evgeniya Molchanova, the author of the application, spoke about business development and future plans.

"My business idea is to mechanize work processes at the enterprise by purchasing the necessary equipment, including a front-end loader. Its purchase will allow us to reduce the time spent on cleaning the pens by almost 70% and save significant money. For example, an hour of manual cleaning work costs UAH 90, which is about UAH 140 thousand a year for the pens alone. With the help of a forklift, all this work can be done faster and much cheaper, especially since the company is currently suffering from a lack of male physical strength, and for women, cleaning pens is extremely hard work. Now women and girls can transport feed and clean pens using only the control panel on the tractor. Another UAH 51 thousand of savings are planned for landscaping. And this is just for the first year.

In addition, this equipment allows us to perform emergency water supply, construction, road maintenance, etc., to quickly transport livestock to a veterinary clinic in case of illness, and to improve the territory. And in the near future, it will enable the company to diversify into fertilizer sales for farms," she comments

The Do Your Own Business Idea Contest is an initiative of the MHP-Hromada Charitable Foundation, which aims to lend a shoulder of support to small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine that face the negative economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine on a daily basis.

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"MHP-Hromadas is a Ukrainian charitable foundation that started its operations in 2015. Its main mission is the comprehensive development of communities. The geography of its activities includes 13 regions of Ukraine: more than 700 towns and villages. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Foundation has been systematically supporting people in the war zone, Ukrainian defenders and rescuers, communities, hospitals and maternity homes, charitable institutions that care for orphans and the elderly, as well as people who have lost their homes and livelihoods due to the war.