Our Challenges June & July
It has been almost 3 months since Russia destroyed the Nova Kakhovka Hydro Power Electric dam in Ukraine, killing thousands of people, displacing 10s of thousands of families, and contaminating the Dnipro River leaving over 700,000 people without drinking water.
As the waters rose to over 15′ high in some areas the Russian military didn’t take any actions to rescue or help the citizens affected by the floods. Moreover, they would restrain and block civilians and volunteers trying to evacuate people or deliver water and food supplies. Many of you probably have seen videos of Russians shelling rescue boats with civilians on board in Kherson. You can easily get the picture of their “aggressive approach” towards attempts to evacuate people on the occupied territories that flooded. With the help of Nadiia’s tireless hours on the phone organizing we did manage to get about 80 families out from flooded areas and organized local citizens to open their doors to evacuees into their homes. We also organized several drop-off locations where citizens could donate clothing, blankets and other household goods, as well as providing countless cases of water.
For those who may not be familiar, Nova Kahovka for Life, Inc. is a Newburyport MA-based nonprofit formed just after the War started in Ukraine. Both Jarred & Nadiia immediately recognized the desperation of people in Nadiia's home city of Nova Kakhovka, Ukraine, where her parents, sister and her family, close friends and their families also live. Under Russian occupation since February 2022, over 40,000 people could no longer work or use banks as everything came to a halt. People could only eat what they had in the house and desperately look for ways to survive. Jarred & Nadiia immediately started fundraising in the US, and at the same time organized volunteers inside Nova Kahovka, Ukraine to start distributing food to those in need. Using the electronic banking system funds raised locally get transferred directly to our bank account in Ukraine and are able to pay for goods to the suppliers and farms. Volunteers in Nova Kahovka Ukraine pick up the food and essentials, bag them, and deliver them to people in need. Only with people's generosity, large and small, this is possible. Together we are making a difference in people's lives trapped in Russian occupied Nova Kahovka, Ukraine.
Aftermath of the Dam Destruction
It took about a week for the water levels to start to drop. As people started to come back to their homes some would find out their homes are completely gone, washed away with the strong currents of rushing water, while others came back to their homes partially destroyed and covered in mold. For those with something left, they knew the only choice was to try to clean their homes from what they had left after the water damage.
Typically, our daily deliveries will include only food & essentials with some laundry detergent once in a while. June turned out very differently because people started desperately asking for bleach and cleaning supplies as they were trying to clean their homes and possessions after the flooding.
The month of June turned out to be very challenging for our volunteers, both here and in occupied Nova Kakhovka Ukraine. We had to shift our priorities after the Russian terrorist attack on the Kakhovka Dam, destroying a dam that held over 18 billion tons of water. This is equivalent to supplying the entire world with over 2 years of drinking water. We immediately switched our focus to helping those who suffered from flooding on Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian military, not only in the city of Nova Kakhovka but surrounding towns bordering the Dnipro River on the southern occupied side.
We had to make difficult choices to redistribute money in order to help desperate people, the number of which increased massively in one night.
We achieved a lot and we are very proud to say that we did our best to support people during this disaster.
We are thankful to everyone who continues to support and help us to achieve our humanitarian goals through this truly devastating time.
Thank you.
June & July 2023 Humanitarian Aid
Each month we track our humanitarian purchases and post on our Facebook page but we wanted to give you a glimpse of the volumes of purchases we delivered to those in need for the months of June & July 2023.
Click each heading below to get more information on how your donations help by allowing us to purchase in volume and deliver to those in need.
- Water purified: 1800 liters / 470 gallons ( 18500 UAH / $500 )
- Grains ( oat, barley, millet, wheat, rice, buckwheat, polenta ): 600 kg / 1300 lb ( 34000 UAH / $930 )
- Pasta / Ramen: 450 kg / 990 lb ( 44000 UAH / $1200 )
- Sunflower oil: 260 liters / 70 gallons ( 24000 UAH / $650 )
- Meat ( canned stew, hot dogs, pate ): 240 kg / 530 lb ( 60600 UAH / $1700 )
- Sugar: 160 kg / 350 lb ( 9800 UAH / $270 )
- Baby food ( yoghurt, fruit purée, formula ): 160 kg / 350 lb ( 14500 UAH / $400 )
- Biscuits : 90 kg / 200 lbs ( 16500 UAH / $450 )
- Vegetables ( fresh, canned, pickled, spreads) : 80 kg / 180 lb ( 7000 UAH / $200 )
- Wheat flour: 60 kg / 130 lb ( 2000 UAH / $55 )
- Beans / Peas ( canned, dry ): 50 kg / 110 lb ( 3000 UAH / $80 )
- Fish ( canned ): 45 kg / 100 lb ( 9000 UAH / $250 )
- Tea: 25 kg / 55 lb ( 22000 UAH / $600 )
- Salt: 15 kg / 33 lb ( 300 UAH / $8 )
- Soap ( shower gel, bar soap, dish soap, cleaning powder): 125 kg / 275 lb ( 30000 UAH / $820 )
- Bleach: 155 liters / 41 gal ( 11000 UAH / $300 )
- Laundry detergent: 115 kg / 250 lb ( 18000 UAH / $500 )
- Shampoo: 30 liters / 7.5 gal ( 10200 UAH / $280 )
- Toilet paper: 380 rolls ( 6000 UAH / $160 )
- Toothpaste: 10.5 kg / 23 lb ( 6300 UAH / $170 )
- Underwear/Socks: 267 pairs ( 9885 UAH / $270 )
- Gas Stove: 5 pcs ( 4500 UAH / $125 )
- Flip flops: 5 pairs ( 500 UAH / $14 )
- Plastic bags: 176 pcs ( 1236 UAH / $35 )
- Sponge ( dish, body ): 51 pcs ( 2555 UAH / $70 )
Minor expenses:
Fruits, Spices, Candy, Chocolate, Baking Yeast, Lotion.
