At the end of May last year, about ten concerned Kyiv residents organised a small fair to help their friends with the next collection. The event was such a success that the initiators decided to continue.
In a year and a half, the team has grown and the now traditional Sunday charity fair on the grounds of the golden-domed St Michael’s Monastery has become a regular event. To date, the event has raised more than four million hryvnias, which has been used to buy three DJI Mavic 3s and ten cars. Recently, the organisers decided to focus on the purchase of domestic Kamikaze drones and have already transferred the amount needed to manufacture sixteen units of those.
We spoke to one of the organisers, 25-year-old Ivanna Marchuk, about this and other activities of the volunteer community.
Ivanna, what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think back to 24 February 2022, the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine?
It’s hard to forget that day, I remember it all in great detail. In fact, my husband and I were prepared for it: we had already left for the New Year’s holidays with bug-out bags.
So when we woke up in Kyiv on 24 February to the explosions, we had already packed our bags. The first thing we did was to call our families, and then we decided to leave Kyiv for my parents’ place in the Rivne region with other relatives.
On arrival, we immediately went to register with the local anti-terrorist unit. I immediately realised that I would not be accepted because there was a long queue of men. At the same time I thought what wonderful people we have here.
But I tried to be useful, so I looked for volunteer initiatives. But there were also many people willing to do such things as building checkpoints, weaving nets, unloading humanitarian aid and preparing Molotov cocktails, because everyone understood what was happening and wanted to help. Then I found an online service to coordinate volunteer help and worked there until the work of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (where I studied and now teach practical and laboratory classes in graphic design, animation technology and applied computer graphics), resumed. So I returned to the capital last August.
How did you start your volunteer work in Kyiv?
I didn’t have to look for anything here. I immediately joined the community, whose history I will now present.
My friends – sisters Tetiana Lopushanska and Liubov Vdovtsova and their families – decided to hold a one-off charity fair on Kyiv Day in 2022 to raise money for their friend, volunteer Natalia Prylutska, who has been helping the Ukrainian army since 2014.
They cooked some treats and my sister, the illustrator Stella Marchuk, brought some handmade craft souvenirs. Some of the organisers are parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, so they asked the clergy if they could set up shop in the courtyard of the golden-domed St Michael’s Monastery. The idea was approved. And since then we have been there every Sunday from 9am to 2pm.
We decided to just give it a try, not expecting that we would be able to collect almost 20 thousand hryvnias with such a small assortment. The success was inspiring and we decided that we shouldn’t stop, because if there is such an opportunity to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces, we should use it.
What exactly did you manage to collect at the fairs?
The funds collected from May to September 2022 were added to the collections of volunteer friends. As time went by, we noticed a trend that we were always collecting more than 30 thousand hryvnias at one fair, and we held fairs every Sunday and on holidays. So in October last year we decided to raise money for drones and cars ourselves. Lyubov Vdovtsova is also registered as a volunteer and has official accounts. We communicate directly with the military and work only on an official request from a military unit. Since then, we have bought three DJI Mavic 3s and ten vehicles, which we have repaired and sent to the front. We have also raised money for four mobile workshops equipped with the necessary tools. In May this year, the team worked with other foundations to provide generators, sleeping bags and tents for the newly formed 23rd separate mechanised brigade.
Not long ago, the team and I decided to focus on the purchase of Ukrainian-made kamikaze drones. A month ago we transferred money for the production of sixteen units of this vital equipment.
From May 2022 to the end of September 2023 we have collected more than four million hryvnia. All this is thanks to our regular visitors, the help of our colleagues, friends and family. We already have quite a few regulars, most of whom we know by sight and name, and when we meet, we hug, talk and ask how they are doing.
How many people are involved in preparing the events and what is your role?
I can say that while our fair started with two families, we now have a large team of around 50 people, including several organisers (including myself). My responsibilities include creating content, managing the Instagram page, reporting and coordinating meetings. I also constantly contribute to the fair by baking cakes, muffins and tarts, finding new recipes each time to diversify the range, and creating gifts with my sister.
Among the regular participants are members of the national scout organisation Plast, whose motto is: “God and Ukraine”. The boys and girls come up with all sorts of interesting things to help us.
There are also those who come whenever they can. Some of them have never been to Mykhailivska Square, but they send us works from different parts of Ukraine. There are delicacies, flags, painted shoppers, motanka and jewellery. There is no price tag on the goods – buyers pay as much as they see fit. Only for more expensive items do we set a price that at least covers the cost, so that the artisan’s charitable contribution in the form of an item is maximised and not for an unreasonably low amount. We have many artisans who work during the day at their day jobs and make their souvenirs, which take a lot of time, at night. They spend their time and energy because they want to help the Ukrainian army.
New participants appear thanks to the recommendations of our friends and acquaintances and thanks to social media. Visitors to the fair often offer their products. We always welcome new participants and meet wonderful people.
We try to give the items we buy to the military on the day of the fair so that visitors can see them. The five-year-old daughter of one of our volunteers, Myroslava, always comes to this ceremony with her blue and yellow flag and asks the military to sign it. I think this will be a good memory for her in the future when she tells her children about these times.
A year and a half ago, you thought that your fair would be a one-off event. Didn’t you feel like stopping your voluntary work?
I never wanted to stop. On the contrary, with each fair we think about how we can expand, develop, raise more funds and be more effective. Because when we talk to the military and know what is happening at the front, how hard it is for them, what they are doing for our country, we realise that we cannot stop. We realise that we have to work even harder, get people more involved and tell them how important it is to help.
We increase the amount of money we raise. We know why that happens: we expand our range, introduce more expensive items, spread the word about our activities, and when we are critically short of funds, we take the goods and offer them to our colleagues at work or put them on display with the concierges in the buildings where we live. But overall, activity has dropped significantly and we urge everyone not to stop and not to reduce their support for the troops. The front line is working all the time, so the back line should not stop.
My sister and I are planning to start our own business. It will be a small production of souvenirs that will inspire people. If we succeed, it will be our contribution to the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Here you can find the link to the Instagram page of the charity fair where you can find out all the latest news about the events that Ivanna helps to organise and get involved in this important cause
