Svitlo Hristove — Aid in Kamenec Podilk
One recipient of a Grace Tea donation is Svitlo Hristove, a church in Kamenec Podilsk, in western Ukraine.
Grace Tea takes great pride in working directly with people we know and trust on the ground in Ukraine who ensure your donations reach Ukrainian people fleeing the war rather than being tied up in administrative costs.
Grace Tea team member, Anastasiia Ostapovich spent her childhood in Ukraine with another member from Svitlo Hristove. Their two families have been friends from a very young age, giving us someone within the church group that we trust implicitly.
Since the war began, many refugees have flooded into Kamenec Podilk. Around 20,000 registered refugees, and a further 30,000 unregistered have arrived in the small city. Space is limited, and there isn't sufficient housing and shelter available. Kamenec Podilk has become a stopover destination for many refugees while they pause their escape to eat and sleep before making their way to the border to leave Ukraine.
The members of Church Svitlo Hristove have been volunteering day and night to support the influx of refugees and help see them safely on their way.
They are currently hosting 70 refugees permanently. The church has created a make-shift hotel in a few old rooms previously used to host missionaries, seminary students, or guests visiting the church. Many church members have also opened their homes to provide a safe haven for refugees and create additional temporary housing.
Among the people staying within Church Svitlo Hristove are congregations from Ugledar and Volnovaha. These two regions have faced extensive bombing. Congregation members from Ugledar are helping Svitlo Hristove members to navigate back roads, helping bring aid back to those remaining in Ugledar.
Many volunteers are driving to Ugledar, transporting aid to the city, then bringing back busloads of refugees when they return. The people arriving at Church Svitlo Hristove, in Kamenec Podilk have no food when they arrive and are incredibly excited to see a loaf of bread.
Svitlo Hristove is also able to recieve and distribute humanitarian aid. Buses arriving from Romania bring mattresses for the refugees to sleep on, while humanitarian aid from Poland is driven to Ugledar.
With food in such short supply for the number of people now staying in Kamenec Podilk, members from Church Svitlo Hristove have begun baking their own bread. They have purchased a wood burn oven (in case they lose power), capable of baking 15-17 loaves of bread at a time.
There are many volunteers within this church group but limited funds to provide food and shelter for all who need it. Grace Tea is proud to be supporting this small community-led group who are doing all of the groundwork to ensure that the refugees arriving in Kamenec Podilk are met with a warm loaf of bread and somewhere safe to sleep.