Ukraine Small Business & Restaurant Relief Fund
Donation protected
My name is Margarita and I was born in Kyiv, Ukraine. In 1996, at 12 years old, I moved to the United States with my family. All these years I’ve kept in touch with my childhood friends. This is my first fundraising in the hope of helping a dear friend, Hanna Avdisheva, a CEO of three, once thriving restaurants in Kyiv.
While we are witnessing the bravery of Ukrainians, we are also bearing witness to the unimaginable burden of those who have lost almost everything. Our heart especially aches for the small business owners and restaurants that have played such an important role in the culture and richness of a once vibrant Kyiv.
We are calling on restaurant owners and small business owners who are fortunate enough to still work and live in safety.
Meet Hanna, from humble beginnings to now CEO of three restaurants. The Fat Lion, Urban Grill, and Crazy Jack desperately need your help. Hanna employs a staff of 98 workers between the three restaurants. Your help would cause an instant ripple effect and would not only help these 98 souls. Your aid would help their families, pets, community, and homes. The remaining Staff members are still preparing food and meals, support, and comfort to their local Armed Defensive Forces. Supplies, inventory, food, and resources are running out fast. The remaining crew prepares 350 meals daily for the Armed and Territorial Defense Forces, putting their lives in danger. Last week a drone hit one of the restaurants and started a large fire.
We’ve been receiving updates on other staff members. The cleaning crew of 6 people and 3 cooks are currently isolated in the Chernihiv Region, the city of Nizhyn, and the village of Kobyzhcha. They are hiding underground, in cellars of homes, without ways to get food and resources. A manager and 2 bartenders, who live in Kyiv next to the Lavina Mall Trade Center, are forced to sleep in the cold of the non-functioning Lavina Mall after it was hit by shelling. Another manager, had her windows shattered during a shelling, she cannot leave because she used to volunteer at the animal shelter and is currently caring for 9 cats. She lives with them and her family in a home-made bomb shelter, under her building. Another employee was in a village in the Chernihiv region and has been out of touch for over ten days. There is no electricity in the area and we really hope he is alright. A manager, 28 years old, life was taken when a rocket hit his house. He is survived by his parents and fiancé. These are just a few of the stories of the amazing crew and staff that once put life into these establishments.
Your donations will be directly used to help these 98 people, their community, pets, and everyone they touch. Your help will keep the remaining crew members employed despite the restaurants losing their source of revenue and having no income. Their work will continue to feed many by preparing 350+ meals per day. Food production is amongst the most essential activities for any community. Someone needs to make the food regardless of the circumstances.
Our fundraiser has the potential to help many survive. Thank you very much for taking the time to hear our story.
While we are witnessing the bravery of Ukrainians, we are also bearing witness to the unimaginable burden of those who have lost almost everything. Our heart especially aches for the small business owners and restaurants that have played such an important role in the culture and richness of a once vibrant Kyiv.
We are calling on restaurant owners and small business owners who are fortunate enough to still work and live in safety.
Meet Hanna, from humble beginnings to now CEO of three restaurants. The Fat Lion, Urban Grill, and Crazy Jack desperately need your help. Hanna employs a staff of 98 workers between the three restaurants. Your help would cause an instant ripple effect and would not only help these 98 souls. Your aid would help their families, pets, community, and homes. The remaining Staff members are still preparing food and meals, support, and comfort to their local Armed Defensive Forces. Supplies, inventory, food, and resources are running out fast. The remaining crew prepares 350 meals daily for the Armed and Territorial Defense Forces, putting their lives in danger. Last week a drone hit one of the restaurants and started a large fire.
We’ve been receiving updates on other staff members. The cleaning crew of 6 people and 3 cooks are currently isolated in the Chernihiv Region, the city of Nizhyn, and the village of Kobyzhcha. They are hiding underground, in cellars of homes, without ways to get food and resources. A manager and 2 bartenders, who live in Kyiv next to the Lavina Mall Trade Center, are forced to sleep in the cold of the non-functioning Lavina Mall after it was hit by shelling. Another manager, had her windows shattered during a shelling, she cannot leave because she used to volunteer at the animal shelter and is currently caring for 9 cats. She lives with them and her family in a home-made bomb shelter, under her building. Another employee was in a village in the Chernihiv region and has been out of touch for over ten days. There is no electricity in the area and we really hope he is alright. A manager, 28 years old, life was taken when a rocket hit his house. He is survived by his parents and fiancé. These are just a few of the stories of the amazing crew and staff that once put life into these establishments.
Your donations will be directly used to help these 98 people, their community, pets, and everyone they touch. Your help will keep the remaining crew members employed despite the restaurants losing their source of revenue and having no income. Their work will continue to feed many by preparing 350+ meals per day. Food production is amongst the most essential activities for any community. Someone needs to make the food regardless of the circumstances.
Our fundraiser has the potential to help many survive. Thank you very much for taking the time to hear our story.
Get to know Hanna: At 16 years old Hanna faced more adversity and loss than most experience in one lifetime. She had nothing and got a job as a waitress. That work paid off and she was able to ascend up the career ladder from waitress to restaurant admin, manager, senior manager, CEO of one restaurant, to now CEO of three restaurants. Her plans to continue on her path of success and growth were destroyed in an instant once the war began. Her team is left without work, a source of income and the means to survive during this war. Her employees that have not yet fled are isolated in their homes. The main thing being to just try and stay alive.
In her own words: “There is already loss among us and life cannot be returned. What about me? I don’t know. I’m sitting in Kyiv, which is being bombed and I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving my 98 employees for who my heart breaks. I need to help them and I don’t know how. We are volunteers at this point. We cook meals every day, we look for food, we look for people with cars, we look for gas. We do what we can. Each of us believes in victory and that we will be able to restore business in the future. How many lives will be lost before the Russian Federation stops destroying us? How much time will pass, and will we be able to make it through this period? I’m afraid that our only option is to run to Poland and clean floors, in order to earn money. We might not last long."
Please join us today by donating and sharing this fundraiser. Every donation, no matter the size, will make a difference in the lives of those affected.
Thank you
Margarita
Organizer
Margarita Rabinkova
Organizer
Aurora, CO
