The evolution of charity and volunteerism through the example of one foundation

The evolution of charity and volunteerism through the example of one foundation: how the challenges of wartime change approaches to helping people

Important features of Ukrainian civil society are large-scale philanthropy and a developed volunteer movement. Having begun to actively develop after the Revolution of Dignity and russian annexation of The Crimea and part of Donbas, they took on a truly massive character after the start of a large-scale russian invasion in February 2022.

Today, neither support of the army, nor the evacuation and resettlement of people, nor material and psychological support can be done without charitable and volunteer assistance. The whole country collects money for drones, cars, other equipment and volunteers find them and deliver to the front lines.

One of the most effective tools for organizing such activities are charitable funds, which allow to accumulate significant own or borrowed resources and to organize the processes of their use in a high-quality way. However, as practice shows, even foundations that have been working for a long time, faced with challenges of wartime, had to seriously change their approaches to providing assistance. We talk about the evolution of charity during the war using the example of The Vadym Stolar Foundation.

The beginning

At the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion, The Vadym Stolar Foundation had already been active for two years. It was created in early 2020 to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. However, immediately after the russian full-scale invasion, it was decided to completely change the direction of work and focus on helping the military and war victims.

"In the first days, we rushed from one direction of aid to another, tried to "close the holes" where calls came from and where we had a certain material base. In particular, we were buying ammunition and bulletproof vests for the defenders, prepared hot lunches for them and the people of Kyiv and we were helping with food and medicine. The enemy was standing under the capital, everyone was working in emergency mode. After stabilization of the situation, when the russians were pushed back from the city, there was an opportunity to take a breath and think about how to proceed. In the end, we decided to focus on three main areas of assistance: comprehensive support for the Armed Forces, food aid to the needy and psychological support for the military and civilians," Vadym Stolar says.

According to the patron, various aid formats were tested and the Fund's strategy was adjusted during 2022. And from the beginning of 2023, it began to be clearly and systematically implemented with an emphasis on large-scale projects, such as "++ for the Armed Forces", "Product aid", "Recover", "Psychological support" etc.

System assistance to the military: ++ for the Armed Forces

Maximum support for the defenders of Ukraine has been among the priorities of the Fund since the first days of the full-scale war. In the end, it was all summarized in one large-scale project, which made it possible to systematize the provision of assistance and make it more effective.

"Considering different approaches to supporting the military, we came to the conclusion that we have two options: either to choose several areas of assistance and focus only on them, or to start the construction of a complex large project that includes the organization of all processes, from the analysis of real needs to the organization of supplies and back connection. Having analyzed own capabilities and the needs of the front, was decided to follow the second path. This is how the concept of "++ for the Armed Forces" appeared," Vadym Stolar recalls.

Within the scope of the project, there was also a constant development: the list of things transferred to defenders was expanding, its number was increasing.

"Requests from the military are constantly changing, and you need to understand that focusing on just one thing here simply won't work. For example, it turned out that there is a large demand for seasonal ammunition, we started accepting applications, bought equipment and delivered it to the fighters. It became known about the lack of means of arranging the lane at the border guards - we helped with special equipment. After the russian terrorists blew up the dam of the Kakhovsky Reservoir, motor boats were needed to rescue people - we delivered them to the marines," Nataliya Prykhodko says, a volunteer of the Foundation.

Ammunition, equipment, and vehicles are also transferred for the needs of the front, but, as the Foundation notes, more and more military requests are shifting towards high-tech equipment. That is why volunteers have been actively purchasing and delivering surveillance drones, kamikaze FPV drones and anti-UAV combat systems to the front line for the past year.

What do civilians need?

In the first days after the russian attack, the most urgent request from the population was safety and provision of basic needs, because many people were in a difficult situation. Therefore, The Vadym Stolar Foundation joined the evacuation of people by organizing a number of bus flights to the western regions of Ukraine. And also - prepared dinners and provided food and medicine to everyone who needed it.

Systemic food aid continues to this day, benefactors constantly arrange humanitarian missions in different parts of the country. However, after the first months of the war and trustful communication with citizens, the volunteers realized how great demand for moral support and psycho-emotional rehabilitation is now.

This was the impetus for the launch of several large-scale projects that started back in 2022, and this year evolved, expanded and grew with new branches. Some of them are worth dwelling on separately

Recover

The Foundation considers "Recover" to be its "flagship" project in the field of psycho-emotional assistance to civilians. And this is justified, because complex and large-scale rehabilitation measures are organized within the framework of this initiative.

So, what does it look like. At each stage, such families check-in at a cozy hotel in one of the picturesque and safe places in western Ukraine. Here, in a completely calm and as friendly atmosphere as possible, professional psychologists work with adults and animators entertain the little ones. Art therapists work together with children and parents. Volunteers organize interesting master classes for all age groups, educational tours, mountain hikes, etc.

"Talking to the participants of the "Recover" project, I realized how difficult it is for them. But I also felt that they want and have the strength to return to a full-fledged life. Our project was created to help them in this. As a father of five children, I know that stress hits the children the hardest. And we must do everything possible to protect them. We will definitely continue the "Recover". After all, people and their health, both physical and mental, are extremely important. Because it is emotionally healthy and strong-spirited citizens are the key to the post-war recovery of the country and the revival of the nation", Vadym Stolar emphasizes.

In total, the Fund has already held six "Recover" stages, four of which were held this year. 1200 families received help during this time.

Psychological support

Another large-scale project from the Fund, which has undergone significant changes since its launch in 2022.

"From the beginning, within the scope of the project, only individual consultations with a psychologist were conducted online. However, we later added group classes and already in 2023, similar events also began to be held in an offline format. All options proved their effectiveness and according to the participants' feedback, brought them relief," Nataliya Prykhodko says.

The topics of questions that psychologists touch upon work with people are very diverse. In particular, the project explores topics such as the impact of war on the emotional sphere of children, panic attacks and how to deal with them, relationships during wartime, sources of emotional resources, etc.

The educational "Course about children - for mothers" stood out from the "Psychological support" project. Within its limits, every week the specialist talks about the peculiarities of raising children at different ages, from birth to youth, in the format of live broadcasts on the Foundation's YouTube channel.

Thanks to the practical recommendations received during the course, mothers learn to understand their children, realize the causes of conflicts, prevent their consequences, create an atmosphere of trust and acceptance in the family, and learn to recognize and regulate their emotions.

Other social projects

The project "Sports in the District" that is aimed at supporting physical condition of Ukrainians started in August of last year. First, The Vadym Stolar Foundation organized outdoor classes in the capital, selecting a team of trainers. All those willing could participate in physical activities in their area of the city. With the onset of cold weather, the project moved online and in 2023 it already operated in a mixed format.

The Foundation relaunched "Sports in the District" in the spring, taking into account experience accumulated by the organizers and it turned out to be a successful decision. The project has become very popular and attracts more and more participants every month, even those who were not very "sporty" before.

Among other initiatives of The Vadym Stolar Foundation, it is important to mention the educational project on studying Ukrainian language. Now many Ukrainians who have been russian-speaking all their lives are switching to Ukrainian. And this project is designed to help people who have certain difficulties with such a transition, are ashamed to make mistakes - to improve their speaking skills, improve their language skills.

Also worthy of attention is the project "Meet: Kyiv!", which is aimed at forced migrants who are in the capital. Within its borders, regular free tours of various orientations are held, the purpose of which is not only to acquaint people with the city and its history, but also to enable those who were forced to leave their homes to recharge, rest and have a little fun.

Growth points

By 2024, the Fund approaches not only with well-honed projects and established processes, but also with an understanding of future development directions. One of the most promising is the deepening of cooperation with other charitable organizations, which is already being developed this year in the form of grant programs.

So, the first such program started in the spring, for which The Vadym Stolar Foundation allocated 1 million hryvnias. More than 100 organizations of various orientations took part in the competition for financial support, and those aimed at the rehabilitation of wounded defenders of Ukraine won.

A second grant program was also launched for UAH 1 million in the autumn, but this time the organizers took into account the previous experience and immediately focused on the current topic - namely, on projects for the physical and psychological rehabilitation of civilians and military personnel in the realities of war.

"We see that cooperation with charitable organizations that specialize in certain areas has a significant positive effect, because in this way we very specifically finance the satisfaction of those needs that are currently the most urgent. Therefore, we will continue to develop this line of activity. In the end, joint efforts and unity always give a powerful effect - Ukrainians have proven it," Nataliya Prykhodko sums up.