One month into #ChefsForUkraine: A message from José

 

A message to you from José Andrés in Ukraine

It's been one month since Russia invaded Ukraine and the numbers are sobering: nearly 4 million Ukrainians have fled the country and over 7 million are displaced internally. But behind these statistics – and behind every meal we serve – are real families who are picking up the pieces of their lives. And with your help, WCK has been on the ground to support them since day one. We are now serving 250,000 hot, nourishing meals every day in 6 countries, with more than 3.5 million meals served so far. Thanks to our incredible restaurant partners, we are now active in 21 main cities across Ukraine, serving families from Kharkiv in the east, Odesa in the south, and Lviv in the west. In Kyiv alone, we have 84 kitchens cooking. WCK teams are active at 41 border crossing locations in Poland, Romania, Moldova, and Hungary –– and we've activated in Spain for refugees arriving to Madrid.

José is back on the ground in Lviv, Ukraine this week where at least 200,000 people from the east are now sheltering. When attacks began, the team pictured below started by making 500 sandwiches. Now, every day they’re making 10,000 sandwiches in addition to 18,000 hot meals! These meals are being delivered to 75 shelters in the city, including this kindergarten that houses 60 refugees.

In addition to freshly prepared meals, we have distributed over 2,000 tons of food to cities across Ukraine –– both to our WCK restaurant partners and to stockpiles like in Odesa, where they are preparing in case the city gets cut off. Starting this weekend, we will be sending huge amounts of non-perishable food by rail to cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolayiv, Poltava, and Zaporizhzhia.

SUPPORT OUR UKRAINE RELIEF EFFORTS

Outside Ukraine, WCK continues to provide comforting meals at border crossings, reception centers, shelters, and train stations. In Warsaw, the National Stadium is set up to register 1,600 people each day, but some days over 7,000 people arrive and WCK is there with fresh meals for families waiting. In Krakow, we've setup a dining tent, where drawings of hope from children hang on the wall.

In the past month, our team has met incredible people doing everything they can to support one another during such a difficult time. The work has been made possible by these individuals all across eastern Europe stepping up to prepare, plate, and serve fresh meals to families—including so many in Ukraine who are cooking under incredibly challenging circumstances. It's our honor to support these teams and the people they are serving. Here we have shared a selection of photographs and the stories they tell from the people we've met so far. See more stories on our website.

“We stayed for three weeks in Kyiv during the war. We kept thinking 'Maybe it will end tomorrow' and tomorrow never came. I decided to go once they began to dig military trenches a block away from my home. I couldn’t be caught in crossfire, so I grabbed my neighbor [Tamara] and we came here.” Olga and Tamara share a meal at the Tesco shelter in Przemysl, Poland.  “Hot food! Very important, for health and spirits. Usually we’re eating homemade, hot foods in Ukraine. During our recent travels, we have eaten many sandwiches. But this hot soup, feels like home.”

Seven-year-old Yaryna accompanies her mom to work—her mother washes the dishes at one of the WCK partner restaurants in Lviv, Ukraine. Sometimes Yaryna helps by picking up trays after people have finished eating. She doesn’t know when school will start again, but her teacher has been giving her exercises to do over the phone.

"We’re not professional chefs, but now we understand why someone would want to become one. The smile on the people’s faces when they eat something cooked by us is very rewarding.” Lenuta and Elena are volunteering at the Shalom shelter in Vaslui, Romania where WCK is providing nourishing meals to more than 1,000 refugees.

This work has been made possible only because of your support. To see more visual stories from the ground, click here. To support our #ChefsForUkraine efforts, please donate here.  Stay up-to-date on our response by following WCK on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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