In the early hours of Feb. 24, Russian military forces began an invasion of Ukraine by land, sea and air. Missiles have struck major cities in Ukraine, including the capital city Kyiv and casualties continue to grow.
MCC is accepting donations to support its response in Ukraine. “Ukraine is experiencing major upheaval, but our partners have supplies ready to help vulnerable and displaced people,” says Rebecca Hessenauer, MCC representative for Ukraine.
MCC will be working with local partners to scale up existing programs that support vulnerable people and extending those services to internally displaced populations. The long-term response will likely include psychosocial support and trauma healing, temporary emergency housing, emergency distributions of locally purchased emergency supplies such as blankets, and distribution of food packages. MCC also plans to resume shipments of material resources once the in-country conditions are stable enough to do so.
"One hundred years ago, we responded to crisis in Ukraine," says MCC Canada Executive Director Rick Cober Bauman. "A century later, we find ourselves walking alongside the people of Ukraine in crisis once again. They are pleading for our prayer and support — and a reminder they have not been forgotten during this time."
MCC has worked in Ukraine since the organization’s beginnings, opening soup kitchens to provide relief to thousands of starving families. In the early 1990s, MCC renewed efforts to offer humanitarian assistance in Ukraine. On, Feb. 13, MCC relocated all international staff from Ukraine and continues to monitor the situation for staff still in country. Safety and security of staff are of primary concern.
Current MCC work in Ukraine includes projects in relief, peace, health, education, sustainable livelihoods and peacebuilding. Since the beginning of the conflict in east Ukraine, MCC has worked with partners to assist internally displaced people (IDPs) and to build peace. And MCC advocacy offices continue to press Canadian and U.S. governments for non-military support for peacebuilding around the world.
To learn more about MCC's work in Ukraine, read Through the conflict, life carries on or "In God’s name, bread!". To donate in support of MCC's Ukraine response, visit mcc.org/donate. For those who want to donate emergency supplies, such as relief kits or comforters, to help vulnerable people in Ukraine - or in other places around the world - please contact your local MCC office.
Header photo caption: This young girl* and friends made a doll's house out of a cardboard box that was used to ship MCC canned meat. She lives with her mother at a women’s residence operated by an MCC partner in Nikopol, Ukraine.
*Name withheld for security reasons