This week marks a year and a half since Russia’s full-scale invasion. We see the impact of war everywhere in our region. In June, when our moms’ group drove to camp, the roads were still badly broken from Russian tanks rolling over them last spring.
How are we responding as the crisis continues?
We keep our doors open.
Our staff ensures our facilities are open to youth and families. A generator at the Shelter is ready for blackouts. When the city lost water, the Restoration Project crew filled up canisters from a spring outside of town.
We support orphaned youth.
The war touches each person in a different way. Many of our Stop the Cycle families worry about their dads and other loved ones who are defending their country. Our staff brings diapers, groceries, and compassionate listening.
One local college attended by our youth had lost twelve students to the war, and the administration asked us for help with a memorial project. Together, our staff and students planted twelve trees in honor of the fallen students.
We support military families.
Your gifts toward war relief provide for groceries, medications, protective equipment, and other supplies for military families and soldiers. But not all needs are tangible. Every week fresh graves appear in Zhytomyr’s military cemetery, and families are grieving. Our staff and one mom recently sat down to write letters and send gifts to widows of fallen soldiers.
We take care of our staff.
Executive Director Megan Hershey shared,
“We continue to prioritize our staff’s physical, emotional, and spiritual health during wartime. In my weekly calls with Ministry Director Andrey, we discuss individual staff needs and have tangibly responded. We’ve provided for medical needs (due to the stress of war), held retreats at our Ranch property, and offered generators during power outages. We pray for staff members by name. As a leadership team, we’ve also responded to the extreme inflation in Ukraine by increasing staff salaries.”
We’re encouraged by your support during this ongoing challenge. Thank you for giving, praying, volunteering, and sending notes. Your generosity gives hope to all of us.
