#ChefsForUkraine: Visual Stories
Since the invasion of Ukraine, WCK’s Relief Team has been on the ground supporting families sheltering in the country as well as refugees arriving in Poland, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, and most recently, in Spain. Cooking out of our own Relief Kitchen in Przemysl, Poland and mobilizing a vast network of chefs and volunteers across all six countries, WCK is providing nearly 200,000 hot, nourishing meals every day. We’re also making daily food product deliveries into Ukraine and throughout the country for WCK restaurant partners cooking.
Shared below is a collection of photographs and the stories they tell from the people we have met through this response so far. This work has been made possible by partners across eastern Europe stepping up to prepare, plate, and serve fresh meals to neighbors in need—including many in Ukraine who are cooking under incredibly challenging circumstances. It’s our honor to support these teams and the people they are serving.
What began as four women making 500 sandwiches a day has now turned into a full-scale operation of 10,000 sandwiches – as well as16,000 hot meals – being prepped every day at WCK’s FEST kitchen in Lviv, Ukraine. The team has been cooking since the war started and continues to do so, even through consistent air raid sirens that force them to shelter for safety multiple times a day. Dishes include marinated pork, roasted potatoes, beans, cabbage, and hot soup!
Before they begin to cook each day, Chef Aleksander Yourz and the team at Yourz Space Bistro, bring their hands together to feel the unity of oneness. Since the very beginning of our response, the team in Odesa has been helping us provide thousands of comforting meals to people remaining in Ukraine. When we gave them a visit, the team was preparing strawberry juice to go out with all of the meals.
While in Odesa, the WCK team visited multiple restaurants and bakeries helping us provide nourishing meals to shelters, hospitals, and train stations.
While their spirits were high, the city is preparing for the attacks to reach Odesa at any point.
“Since the beginning of the war, I thought, ‘What can I do to help?’. And then it came to me! I’ve dedicated my whole life to cooking and that’s what I’m the best at.”
Mykola is from WCK partner restaurant Alaska in Kyiv. The team is cooking 1,500 daily plates including bulgur, fish cutlet, vegetable salad, and rice soup with pork. Meals are provided to the Ohmatdyt National Children’s Hospital and refugees who have fled from nearby cities Bucha and Irpin.
Seven-year-old Yaryna accompanies her mom to work—her mother washes the dishes at one of the WCK partner restaurants in Lviv. Sometimes Yaryna helps by picking up trays after people have finished eating. She doesn’t know when school will start again, but her teacher has been giving her exercises to do over the phone.
The WCK Relief Team unloads food product at our warehouse in Odesa.
We have multiple warehouses in Ukraine stocked with food supplies to help fill gaps in the country’s stained food supply chain. Each day, trucks make deliveries to our restaurant partners throughout Ukraine in cities including Mykolaiv, Zolochiv, and Kyiv. Shipments consist of meat, fresh produce, and dry goods like rice and bulgur.
“In our cooking, we focus on regional foods. Our city has always been multicultural—Ukrainians, Poles, and Jewish people—these people have always been here so the local food has a history of its own.”
Maciej is the owner of WCK partner restaurant Bosko. Each day, Maciej goes back and forth delivering food from 8am to 9pm at the Przemyśl train station in Poland where many refugees wait for hours before continuing their journeys elsewhere. Bosko is serving up hot soup, chicken and rice, and reheatable meals.
A family is happy to receive an arm’s full of hot meals upon arriving at the Przemyśl train station.
“We stayed for three weeks in Kyiv during the war. We kept thinking ‘Maybe it will end tomorrow’ and tomorrow never came. I decided to go once they began to dig military trenches a block away from my home. I couldn’t be caught in crossfire, so I grabbed my neighbor [Tamara] and we came here.”
Olga and Tamara stop to share a meal at the Tesco shelter in Przemyśl.
“Hot food! Very important, for health and spirits. Usually we’re eating homemade, hot foods in Ukraine. During our recent travels, we have eaten many sandwiches. But this hot soup, feels like home.”
In addition to working with local restaurants along the border in Poland, WCK has constructed our own Relief Kitchen and distribution center with the capacity to cook hundreds of thousands of meals each day, if needed.
After arriving at the border in Poland, most families continue their journey further into the country. Warsaw has seen a surge of refugees over the last week, and now the city has set up a PESEL registration site at the National Stadium. The location is set up to assist 1,600 people each day, however, many more than that are getting in line—earlier this week over 7,000 people arrived on a single day. While families wait, WCK and our local partners are providing comforting meals.
On the menu? Sausage, french fries, fresh fruit, and donuts for dessert!
“I popped a tire on the street carrying 2,000 meals. Locals came and in 30 minutes, I had a brand new tire mounted, filled, and on the van. I offered to pay but the people who helped me said, ‘We want to do our part, this is how we help, good luck on your journey and it’s an honor to help you’. We can’t stop the war but we are providing relief in a meaningful way. It’s amazing to watch the entire aid industry move in and be completely organized within weeks, even with threat of further conflict.”
Toph, a volunteer with WCK partner Team Humanity distributes pasta with meat sauce, and chicken and rice to 350 people temporarily sheltering at Moldexpo in Moldova. Previously an international exhibition center, the space is now being used as a refugee reception and triage point in the country.
“Warm meals mean so much. We’ve been to shelters where we are told, ‘we have food, we have plenty of bread and crackers’. When we say we have HOT food, shelters immediately invite us in.”
Vladimir, pictured left, hands out hot meals late into the evening at Moldexpo. Pictured right, refugees sort through donated clothing at the shelter.
“We left everything behind, but we couldn’t leave them. They’ve traveled with us from Mykolaiv and they’ll continue on this journey to wherever we end up.”
In Chișinău, Moldova, a former cinema turned shelter, is housing 300 people who have fled Ukraine—one room is dedicated to families who crossed the border with their cats. For their owners, especially young children at the shelter, these companions provide comfort, helping ease the trauma of being forcibly displaced.
Two young girls play and color at the Manej Sports Arena in Moldova. The shelter houses between 600 to 800 primarily Roma refugees who have fled Ukraine. Once a place where athletes practiced and competed, the sports facility is now filled with hundreds of cots.
“I just love to see them playing around. We’re not professional chefs, but now we understand why someone would want to become one. The smile on the people’s faces when they eat something cooked by us is very rewarding.”
Lenuta and Elena are volunteering at the Shalom shelter in Vaslui, Romania where WCK is providing nourishing meals to more than 1,000 refugees. While they cook, children sneak behind them to give them hugs. Lenuta and Elena do not speak the children’s language but they know why the kids give them so much attention.
“Candies! It’s all about the candies!”
On the right, a bus with 50 refugees onboard finally arrives at the Huși Emergency camp in Romania after being on the road for more than 20 hours. WCK provided families with hot meals and drinks. To the left, people wait on a bus preparing to depart for Bucharest—a city a little over 200 miles away.
After retiring on March 1, Agnes pictured herself on vacation, tending to her garden, or spending time with her grandson—instead she has been volunteering non-stop with WCK in Zahony, Hungary. Agnes keeps a close eye on our response, ensuring that no food goes to waste and everyone receives a meal.
“People here really care about how we feel, it’s very nice to have this help.”
Sasha is 16 years old and left Ukraine with her two brothers, little sister (pictured above), and their grandmother. Her father had to stay back and fight and her mother stayed with him—she works at a supermarket that is providing food to people unable to leave.
Solomia is too young to understand what is going on around her—what she does know is that she misses her father. She told us she does not miss school, though. While she and her mom wait for the next train to Budapest, Solomia draws with small stones on the ground. Originally from Kyiv, they are on their way to meet relatives in Finland.
With the help of three friends from his hometown in England, David transported 3,000 donated teddy bears in a 55 seater bus from Bristol to Hungary. These bears will be provided to refugee children fleeing with their families at the Zahony train station. English children who donated the toys also wrote special hand written notes for the bears’ new recipient.
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