Many Ukrainian orphaned children are unable to be reunified with families as a result of the war in Ukraine while many others have become orphaned just recently, and Evgeniy has stepped in to help. We always need to support people who become accidental heroes, and Evgeniy is one of them. Please help us support Evgeniy.

 

A month ago, an independent news channel offering news in the Russian language posted this video: https://fb.watch/cXBmTzfVpf/. This was the caption (translated): 121 orphaned children from Kharkiv were sheltered in a sanatorium in Western Ukraine, while fighting was going on there. Before the war, Evgeniy was a metallurgist. When the war began, he took part in the evacuation of children. Together with his wife, Evgeniy took the children to bomb shelters. Now he takes care of them. He also has two sons (ages 3 and 7 years).

 

After watching this video, two friends, Natasha and Lena (and Lena's sister also named Natasha), decided that we needed to come together to support Evgeniy and his colleagues' efforts to support his staff and the children in their care. The two decided to fundraise in the United States and send the money when possible to Evgeniy and their clinic.

 

Natasha had an opportunity to video chat with Evgeniy. Evgeniy shared the following information: currently, the clinic has 123 children total (44 on their floor) and 45 staff members (15 on their floor). Children are ages newborn to 11 years - most newborn to two years and without parents (even prior to the war). Many children have not been able to be reunited with other families after being removed from their homes due to loss of parental rights given the delay in court dates and difficulties with identification documents. Some children are in the NICU/PICU (intensive care unit) and are scheduled for surgeries or are in recovery.

 

During Natasha's video call with Evgeniy, the children were getting ready for mealtime and later would be bathed. Cribs were packed in the room, side by side (with minimal space between the rows of cribs). Although photos could not be taken during the call, Natasha was able to see several of the children that Evgeniy and his colleagues care for.

 

Evgeniy and his colleagues are planning to spend the money raised for children's clothing for varied weather, new cribs and toddler beds, medical supplies, and at least one laptop so that staff can have updated technology to log notes and information about the children.

 

The money that we collect we will directly transfer to Evgeniy, which he will use for the clinic. Natasha has already sent money directly to Evgeniy, which he spent on medical supplies (photos and receipts provided).

 

A little bit about the organizers:

 

Natasha was born in Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine. She immigrated with her family as a Jewish refugee to San Francisco at the age of seven years. Natasha now works as a school psychologist for the public school system with elementary-aged children from low-income backgrounds.

 

Lena was born in Kharkiv and left with her family as Jewish Refugees to San Francisco in the early 1990s. She currently works in tech, writes novels, and fights to help animals and kids.

 

Lena's sister Natasha was born and raised in Kharkiv and immigrated to the US as a teenager. She cares deeply about the conflict in Ukraine and - above all - the welfare of children is her number one priority. It is through her sister Natasha that Lena saw the video featuring Evgeniy for the first time.