Feed Ukrainian Orphans&Children With Disabilities

My name is Irina Lizarazo and I am pleading with you to help me FEED 52 UKRAINIAN ORPHANS!

Their Orphanage Is Running Out Of Food. No Help From Big Charities.

These children are located on the outskirts of the besieged city of Kherson. With ports being blocked and roads made treacherous by bombings, large charity organizations cannot send humanitarian aid into Ukraine through normal channels, and this Orphanage currently gets no help from them at all.

I have been collaborating with Volodymyr Sagaidak, the director of the Orphanage. Into everyone’s life there comes a time when a quick decision is of gravest importance, and such a moment had come to Volodomyr when the war broke out in his homeland. On that day, he faced the difficult choices of staying with his family in Kherson or remaining at the Orphanage, outside of the city, with the children. Volodymyr has been staying with the orphans since, doing all he can to keep them safe.

There are currently 52 children there, ranging in age from 3 to 17 years old. While Volodymyr and staff provide incredible academic and psychological support to the children, they are quickly running out of food. The Orphanage gets some help only from local volunteers, ordinary people, who every now and then bring some groceries or send small donations to Volodymyr.

“We get less and less help, yet more and more problems, “says Volodymyr. “At present moment, I have 24 cans of canned meat, which I will try to stretch for the entire week. We have some potatoes and grains, but we lack everything else that the children need.”

I plead with you to join me in my efforts to support these children.

Together with my family members, we have established grocery delivery to the orphanage through our partner volunteers in Kherson. Making it possible takes courage and sacrifice, which the people of Ukraine have no lack of. What they need is your financial support. All funds will be used to ensure these children have enough to eat.

Volodymyr Sagaidak Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000613626051

Another cause I plead you to support is HEPING US SAVE 48 UKRAINIAN CHILDREN & ADULTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS. Caregivers Cannot Afford Food, Nor Medication. They Have No Chance Without Support.

Humanitarian catastrophe looms in the Russian-occupied city of Kherson. There were no official humanitarian corridors established in the area, and many institutions in Kherson are facing crisis of epic proportions.

While the lives of the city's residents have become all about securing food and medication, people with disabilities are among the most vulnerable. Their fate rests solely with their caregivers who struggle to provide them with even the most basic needs. Many have been held hostage to their own disability.

I have been speaking to Valentina Bondar, an extraordinary woman of one extraordinary organization. She is the Chair of Serce Materi, Kherson Public Organization Of Mothers Of Children With Disabilities. For over 20 years, they have been caring for children and adults with Autism, Down Syndrome, Musculoskeletal and Mental Disorders. And while similar government-funded programs in Ukraine have an age limit for its members (usually 14 years old max,) Valentina's organization is open for all. They currently have 48 members, ranging in age from 5 to 50 years old and now they are in great need of financial assistance.

"My phone has been ringing off the hook, " says Valentina. "And every call is a mother's cry for help." "They need food and medicine, and with their monthly pensions of 1500 hryvnas ($50.79), none of them can afford what they need. My heart breaks for them, but my hands are tied."

Valentina's organization currently gets no help from any charity but us.

I plead with you to join us in our efforts to support them!

Sincerely,

Irina Lizarazo