In February, we changed the Fund’s goal, because we realized that we had to help and save the lives of people affected by the war. All this time, the Foundation has been helping Ukrainians from different cities coming to Lviv or passing through our city with logistics, search for accommodation abroad, etc. 

In July, after our employees had completed TacMed training, after more than 5,000 individual first aid kits had been sent to the east and south of the country, and after calls from Ukrainian fighters thanking us for the training and for the first aid kits that were saving lives, we chose a new target.

Now we are raising money to buy 10,000+ individual first aid kits, because we know what the right first aid kits should be, conducting trainings, and cooperating with the initiatives working in this area, so we are sure that each first aid kit might save a life.

«Food Mission». We have been providing meals to temporarily displaced persons in Lviv since the first days of the full-scale war, taking care of those who cannot get food for themselves and their loved ones because they had to flee their homes under the shelling by russian invaders. Working with our World Central Kitchen partners in March and May, we managed to provide 30,000 meals per day for refugees – every day, without days off. The initiative operates not only in Lviv but also in all cities where we can get our food mission on track to feed Ukrainians. And we intend to go on.

«Food per day» packs. Pack «Food per day» packs are a universal set of products intended for nutrition of one adult per 24 hours (in case of lack of hot water) or per 36 hours (if there is access to hot water). More than 40,000 such packs were distributed throughout Ukraine in the first months of the russian invasion.

For more details about the goals that the Fund has already achieved, please follow the link. 

In February, it became clear that we need to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, and the people in our teams who had nothing to do with the military began to prepare for the medical front. They studied on their own and learned from instructors from around the world, and now they share their knowledge and teach tactical medicine to those who are willing to learn. In fact, part of the training concerns making the right first aid kits, and with this knowledge we are moving to a new goal for the Foundation, because we already know all ins and outs. Our instructors have already trained more than 1,500 AFU and Territorial Defense fighters and we continue with the trainings.

So, if you want to sign up for the training, or one of your friends does – please keep an eye out for our new trainings, this is what the Masoch team is in charge of. 

In the early days of the invasion, we announced that we were ready to transfer the bofons on our guests’ accounts to cover the needs of our boys and girls in the hottest spots. Members of the Lokal community volunteered, and in a matter of days we collected more than 4 million bofons and transferred them to the Armed Forces. Today, you can also donate your bofons, we will use them to purchase first-aid kits (in the Lokal app: catalog  -> charity, «first-aid kits for the military»).

The Aviatsiya Halychyny project has been supporting Ukrainian pilots for several years. In March, Aviatsiya Halychyny’s T-shirts – both existing models and those with new prints – began to sell like hot cakes to people all around the world. Aviatsiya Halychyny used their profits from the sales to purchase the necessary things for our pilots, so that they could better protect our skies. Several million hryvnias were used to purchase navigation systems and off-road vehicles, as well as to sew uniforms for the Air Force. 

In April, Aviatsiya Halychyny created a separate fund and joined an action group to raise funds for fighter jets in the «Buy Me a Fighter Jet» campaign. Fundraising and search for the right aircraft are still underway, you can contribute.

 

At these difficult times for the country, we are teaming up with various initiatives and volunteer organizations to support each other. These include collections dedicated to the works by Serhii Zhadan, joint projects with «Come Back Alive» Foundation, etc. So, by buying clothes on Aviatsiya Halychyny website, you also make our victory closer. We invite you to follow the updates on the brand pages. 

In the early days of the full-scale invasion, when everyone tried to do something useful on the home front too, the brewery workers who had the relevant experience from the Maidan times started to make Molotov cocktails. What’s more, they chose the bottle with the Putin Huylo label as a container. It is a good way to convey what’s on your mind. In a few days, we made more than 2 thousand cocktails – some were handed over to roadblock fighters, and the rest were delivered to Kyiv, because back then they were most needed in the capital city. However, the main thing we attained was the attention of the foreign media that covered the events, showing our struggle and unity of Ukrainians in the face of the enemy. We got them interested in the picture with the hu*lo, while conversations and interviews made it obvious to them who Ukrainians are and what was happening here. 

Subsequently, the Pravda Beer Theatre at 32 Rynok Square hosted the Media Center Ukraine. It was opened to host foreign reporters, to help them cover events throughout Ukraine, because Lviv at the time was the only big buffer place for representatives of other civilized countries to arrive in order to make the entire world aware of the terrible actions of the occupier. By now, media centers have opened in Kyiv and Kharkiv.

«Brew for Ukraine». At the time of a total ban on the sale of alcohol, our brewery made its beer recipes and label visualizations available for use around the globe. The Pravda team began to conduct open brewing sessions, during which Yurko Zastavnyi and Ihor Chertov, brewery representatives, would interact with their counterparts from abroad in an online format and, along with the brewing, would tell them what was going on here, explained how russian invaders came to ravage the peaceful cities of our country. Fundraising was announced (from the sale of the beers brewed according to our recipes and not only) in support of Ukraine. At the time, donations were received both to the accounts provided within the campaign and those of the international funds that helped Ukrainians. Total receipts amounted to more than $2,200,000. 

In addition, a label was developed for volunteers in Germany, they buy beer from us, sell it to Berlin establishments and send their earnings to support Ukraine (medical supplies, food, tools, drones, etc.). They send aid here and take our beer back to their country. The funds received into the accounts of Pravda were used by the team to purchase several off-road vehicles and various equipment (such as thermal imagers, weapon sights etc.) and send them to our guys on the frontline.

After the successful campaign and delivering cars to the frontline, the Pravda team did not stop. We have resumed the performances of PRAVDA orchestra, and the funds raised at the concerts are used to continue buying the necessary equipment for the frontline troops. Come, drink the true beer, and follow the events here. 

Back in February, after the full-scale invasion, the publishing house transferred UAH 500,000 to the «Come Back Alive» Foundation. Since many partners of the publishing house are from Kharkiv region, another UAH 250 thousand were used to purchase medicines for Kharkiv. Our team organized the collection of books, as well as donates for the purchase of publications for children and adults and their delivery to libraries and support centers for Ukrainian refugees in different countries. The geography of the book sending initiative covered the following countries: Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Denmark, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Moldova, France, Luxembourg, Latvia, England, Ireland, Norway, Italy, Sweden, and Austria. In total, more than 4,000 books have been sent so far. You can also contribute to this book fundraising! 

One of Old Lion bookstore coffee shops (Lviv, Halytska Street) couples its work with the collection of humanitarian aid for the army and IDPs (food, medicines, personal hygiene products, clothing).

Thanks to the «Lviv – Kharkiv. For Cars» concert organized by Old Lion Publishing House and Mariana Savka, the Editor-in-Chief of the Publishing House, UAH 145,600 were collected to buy a car for the defenders of the Kharkiv region.

Our support for frontline fighters is not over, the nearest event with a goal of buying an ambulance. 

Today, it is rather difficult to hold concerts, literary soirees, and other events. Some people perceive it as inappropriate entertainment, it hurts to watch someone having fun when the country is at war. But we believe that some positive emotions, relaxation, and a chance to taste some delicious food is always a good thing, and we try to make it possible for Ukrainians in our various spaces. Because we know that our visitors, along with attending events, also try their best to bring the victory closer. Recently, !FESTrepublic held Serhii Zhadan’s literary readings, which helped us fundraise more than UAH 600,000 to buy off-road vehicles for the defenders of Kharkiv.

Despite everything, the territory of !FESTrepublic resumed in early April and continues to organize its own events and host events of organizers from across Ukraine: from lectures on the Ukrainian language and literary soirees to charity concerts. The joint efforts of event organizers, visitors and artists helped to raise UAH 1.8 million in the period from April to July. All funds have been sent to the relevant foundations and initiatives dealing with civil relief and military aid on the frontline.

Every establishment, every project, our entire FEST team tries to contribute to the existing areas or act as a volunteer for our own initiatives to bring the victory closer and kick the invaders out of our land. Since the first days of the russian invasion in February, our restaurants have been treating the military to coffee, our boys and girls are engaged in the supply of both humanitarian aid and a variety of goods for the Army. Our School of Open-Minded Kids (even the children themselves initiate these) holds events for children from the eastern and southern regions. Lviv Handmade Chocolate keeps donating funds in support of various initiatives. 

!FEST COFFEE MISSION has launched the ROASTED IN UKRAINE project on the premises of !FESTrepublic in a building on 24 Staroznesenska Street, so that roasters from across the country who are unable to use the capacities at their former locations could continue to work, create jobs and provide beans to coffee shops not only in Ukraine but also anywhere in the world.