#ChefsForUkraine nears 300,000 daily meals, expands relief efforts in Ukraine
Hours after Ukrainian forces liberated the towns of Bucha and Irpin outside Kyiv, José and the WCK team were able to reach residents who had been trapped for a month. Traveling with the mayor of Irpin, they were the first new faces many had seen since the siege began. We brought hundreds of hot meals and 6,000 kilos of food for families to cook. Amidst images of horrific atrocities by Russian soldiers on civilians, José shared some reflections of his experience here.
While occupying forces pulled back from Kyiv, attacks increased in eastern cities like Kharkiv, where WCK CEO Nate is working with our local partners on the ground.
We’ve been delivering tens of thousands of meals daily in the city and surrounding region to bomb shelters, hospitals, churches, seniors, and people trapped on the front lines. Watch the video below to see what’s happening in Kharkiv.
WCK is now serving meals in more than 30 cities and towns across Ukraine, as well as delivering thousands of tons of food and supplies by truck and train.
We’ve sent food to Zaporzhzhia, which is receiving evacuees from the devastated city of Mariupol, and this week we start serving Kramatorsk, on the edge of the Donetsk region where Russian forces are expected to ramp up attacks in the days ahead.
In Dnipro—a city a little over 50 miles from Zaporzhzhia—local restaurants are helping WCK provide thousands of meals to bomb shelters, hospitals, and train stations.
In Lviv, which remains the humanitarian hub for Ukraine and hosts over 200,000 evacuees, the WCK team continues to serve 75 shelters housing families who fled their homes.
“We decided to leave when the doors and walls started shaking from the missiles. On the balcony, you could hear the machine guns fire. We decided to leave urgently when we saw tanks, soldiers, and checkpoints in the streets.”
Fleeing from Kyiv, Tatyana and her mother, Natalya – both tattoo artists – are now staying at a gym turned shelter in Lviv.
Everyone at home asks “How’s Tatyana? How is she eating?” I have stomach problems with instant, packaged foods that you often see at shelters. But these hot, home-cooked mealskeep me healthy.
Tatyana
Inside a kindergarten in Lviv, Nika & Olga started a shelter for mothers & children fleeing attacks in the east. WCK provides the shelter hot, nourishing meals—a small piece of comfort & hope during this difficult time. Hear from some of these families below.
We’re also delivering ingredients to shelters in nearby cities of Morshyn, Stryi, and Zolochiv.
In Morshyn—a community of just 10,000 south of Lviv—local residents are running three different kitchens cooking for 5,000 people staying here from the east. WCK has started to support these kitchens, filling gaps in necessary product supplies like fresh veggies.
Our #ChefsForUkraine response began in Poland immediately after the initial attacks, and we have now expanded to seven countries. The WCK Relief Kitchen produces 10,000 daily meals in Przemyśl, Poland; over 20 WCK suppliers provide nourishing meals at various shelters across Moldova; we have daily meal service at a train station in Hungary that serves as a major transportation hub; hot restaurant meals are provided the busiest border crossing in Siret, Romania; a 24/7 WCK food truck is stationed outside a social security office providing services to refugees in Spain; and food distribution began at a train station in Košice, Slovakia.
During the past five weeks, our WCK Relief Team, local partners, and volunteers have served over six million meals. Thank you for standing with us in our fight so that during the darkest times, people are met with a comforting plate of food.
I want to thank the world, for coming and giving to a country that isn’t theirs. We wouldn’t be able to do this without all this help.
A volunteer cook at a kitchen in Ukraine
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