The Evolution of Charity and Volunteering on the Example of One Foundation: How Wartime Challenges Change Approaches to Helping People

Important features of of Ukrainian civil society are large-scale charity and a developed volunteer movement. Having begun to develop actively after the Revolution of Dignity and and the Russian annexation of Crimea and parts of Donbas, they became truly massive after the start of the large-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

Today, neither the army nor the evacuation and volunteer assistance is indispensable for the supply of the army, evacuation and resettlement of people, as well as material and psychological support. The whole country raises money for drones, cars, and other equipment, and volunteers find them and deliver them to the front line.

One of the most effective tools for organizing such activities are charitable foundations, which allow accumulate significant own or borrowed resources and organize the processes of their and organize the processes of their use. However, as practice shows, even foundations that have been operating for a long time faced with the challenges of wartime, were forced to seriously change their approaches to providing assistance. The evolution of charity during the war is illustrated by the example of the Vadym Stolar Foundation .

At the beginning of the of the full-scale Russian invasion, the Vadym Stolar Foundation has been active for two years had been active for two years. It was established in early 2020 to help fight the to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. However, immediately after the Russian full-scale invasion, it was decided to completely change the direction of work and to focus on helping the military and war victims.

"У In the early days, we were rushing from one area of assistance to another, trying to "close holes" where the calls came from and where we had a certain material base. In particular, we bought ammunition and bulletproof vests for the defenders, prepared hot meals for them and Kyiv residents with hot lunches, food and medicines. The enemy was standing near the capital, and everyone was working in an emergency mode. After the situation stabilized and the the Russians were pushed back from the city, it became possible to catch our breath and and think about how to proceed. In the end, we decided to focus on three main areas of assistance areas of assistance: comprehensive support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, food aid to the needy and psychological support for the military and civilians," says Vadym Stolar .

According to the philanthropist, during 2022, various formats of assistance were tested and the strategy of the of the Foundation's work. And at the beginning of 2023, it began to clearly and systematically large-scale projects, such as "++ for the Armed Forces", "Food Aid, Recover, Psychological Support, etc.

Systemic assistance for the military: ++ for the Armed Forces of Ukraine 

Maximum support for of Ukraine's defenders has been among the Foundation's priorities since the first days of the of the war. Eventually, it was summarized in one large-scale project, which made it possible to systematize the provision of assistance and make it more effective.

"Thinking about different approaches to supporting the military, we have come to the conclusion that we have two options: either to choose a few areas of assistance and focus on them, or start building a comprehensive large-scale project that includes the organization of all processes - from analyzing real needs to organizing supplies and and feedback. After analyzing our own capabilities and the needs of the frontline, we decided to go the second way. This is how the concept of "++ for for the Armed Forces of Ukraine", Vadym Stolar recalls.

The name was taken from the military themselves. The name was taken from the military themselves, because "++" in their slang means "everything is okay," and this is exactly what the Foundation wanted to do - to provide the soldiers with everything they need to "We have ++".

The project also included was constantly evolving: the list of items sent to defenders was expanding, and the number of people involved increased.

"The requests from the military are constantly changing, and you need to understand that it is impossible to focus on one thing simply won't work. For example, it turned out that there is a great demand for seasonal ammunition - we started accepting applications, purchased the equipment and delivered it to the soldiers. We found out that the border guards lacked the means to equip the borderline, so we helped them with special equipment. After the Kakhovka dam was blown up by Russian Reservoir dam was blown up by Russian terrorists, motor boats were needed to rescue people - we delivered them to the marines," notes Natalia Prykhodko, a volunteer of the Foundation.

Also for the needs of the front ammunition, equipment, and vehicles are also transferred to the front, but, as noted in the Foundation, the military's needs are increasingly shifting towards high-tech equipment. equipment. Therefore, over the past year, volunteers have been actively purchasing and sending observation drones, FPV kamikaze drones and systems to combat enemy UAVs.

What civilians need.

In the first days after the attack In the first days after the attack, the most urgent request from the population was security and provision of basic needs, as many people were in a difficult situation. That is why the Vadym Stolar Foundation contributed to the evacuation of people by organizing a series of bus trips to to the western regions of Ukraine. It also prepared lunches and provided food and medicines to all those who needed them.

Systematic food The systemic food aid continues to this day, with philanthropists constantly organizing humanitarian missions to different parts of the country. However, after the first months of the war and the trusting after the first months of the war and trustful communication with citizens, volunteers realized how great the demand for moral support and psycho-emotional for moral support and psycho-emotional rehabilitation.

This was the impetus for to launch several large-scale projects that started back in 2022 and evolved, expanded, and grew with new branches this year. evolved, expanded, and gained new branches this year. Here are some of them Some of them are worth mentioning separately.

Recover.

"Restore" in the Foundation considers its "flagship" project in the field of psycho-emotional assistance to civilians. And this is is justified, because this initiative organizes comprehensive and large-scale rehabilitation activities.

The project is based on the idea of to support Ukrainian families with children who lost one of their parents in the war or have been left homeless. And the volunteers approached its implementation with inspiration and and creative!

Here's how it looks like. At each stage, the families are brought to a cozy hotel in one of the picturesque and safe places in western Ukraine. Here, in complete peace and and friendly atmosphere, professional psychologists who work with adults and animators work with the participants. with adults and animators who entertain kids. Art therapists work with children and parents together. art therapists work with children and parents. Volunteers organize interesting master classes for all age groups, educational excursions, hiking trips, etc.

"Communicating with the participants of the Restore project, I realized how difficult it was for them. But I also felt that they want and have the strength to return to a full life. Our project was created to help them do so. As a father of five, I know that stress hits children the hardest. And we must do everything we can to to protect them. We will definitely continue to run the program. After all, people and their health - both physical and mental - are extremely important. Because it is emotionally healthy and emotionally healthy and strong-minded citizens are the key to the country's post-war recovery and the revival of the of the nation," emphasizes Vadym Stolar.

In total, the Foundation has already held six stages of "Restore", four of which were held this year. During this time, 1200 families 1200 families have received assistance.

Psychological support[4

Another large-scale project from the Foundation, which has undergone significant changes since its launch in 2022.

"From the very beginning, the project, only individual consultations with a psychologist were held online. online. However, later we added group sessions, and in 2023, similar events also began to be held offline. All options have proven to be effective and effectiveness and, according to participants' feedback, brought them relief," says Natalia Prykhodko.

The topics of issues that psychologists psychologists deal with when working with people is very diverse. In particular, in the the project addresses such topics as the impact of war on children's emotional sphere, panic attacks and how to cope with them, wartime relationships, sources of emotional resources, etc.

The Psychological Support" project, the educational "Course on Children - for Mothers" was spun off from it. As part of it In its framework, every week a specialist talks about the peculiarities of raising children at different ages - from birth to adolescence - in the format of live broadcasts on the Foundation's YouTube channel. Foundation's YouTube channel.

Thanks to the practical recommendations received during the practical recommendations received during the course, mothers learn to understand their children, realize the causes of conflicts, prevent their consequences, and create an atmosphere of trust and acceptance in the family, and learn to recognize their emotions and learn how to regulate them.

Other social projects[4

The "Sport in the project, aimed at supporting the physical condition of Ukrainians, was launched in August last year. At first, the Vadym Stolar Foundation organized outdoor exercise classes in the capital, selecting a team of outdoor exercise classes in the capital and selected a team of coaches. Anyone could join in the physical activity in their neighborhood. With the onset of cold weather, the project moved online, and in 2023, it operated in a mixed format. In the spring, the Foundation relaunched "Sport in the District" taking into account the experience gained by the organizers, and it turned out to be a good decision. The project has become very popular, and every month it attracts more and more participants - even those even those who were not very "sporty" before.

Interesting fact: as turned out that joint sports activities not only improve health, but also contribute to psychological relief, improving the morale of participants.

Among other initiatives of the of the Vadym Stolar Foundation, it is important to mention the educational project for learning the Ukrainian language. Many Ukrainians who have been Russian-speaking all their lives are now switching to Ukrainian. And this project is designed to help people who have have some difficulties with this transition, are embarrassed to make mistakes, and improve their speech skills, improve their language proficiency.

Also worthy of note the project "Meet: Kyiv!" project aimed at internally displaced persons who who live in the capital. It organizes regular free tours of the city. of various kinds, which aim not only to familiarize people with the city and its history, but also to enable those who were forced to leave their homes to reboot and relax, to reboot, relax and have some fun.

Growth points.

By 2024, the Foundation approaches us not only with well-honed projects and established processes, but also with an understanding of the directions of future development. One of the most promising is to deepen cooperation with other charitable organizations, which is already being developed this this year is already being developed in the format of grant programs.

Thus, in the spring, the first such program was launched. the first such program, to which the Vadym Stolar Foundation allocated UAH 1 million. У competition for financial support was attended by more than 100 organizations of different directions took part in the competition for financial support, and the winners were those aimed at rehabilitation of wounded Ukrainian defenders.

Recently, we have launched the second grant program, also for UAH 1 million, which is currently ongoing, but this time the organizers took into account previous experience and immediately focused on relevant topics topics - namely, projects for the physical and psychological rehabilitation of civilians and and military personnel in the realities of war.

"We see that cooperation with charitable organizations that specialize in certain areas has a significant positive effect. a significant positive effect, because in this way we are able to very specifically finance the satisfaction of the needs that are most urgent at the moment. So we will continue to develop this this area of activity. After all, joint efforts and unity always have a powerful effect, as Ukrainians have proven," summarizes Natalia Prykhodko.