The First Lady of Ukraine has announced that this year the Olena Zelenska Foundation has united the efforts of international partners from more than 30 countries of the world.
This allowed it to continue implementing projects in education, humanitarian aid, and healthcare.
Education
Learning devices. The Foundation donated more than 15 thousand devices for distance learning to Ukrainian schoolchildren in 10 regions: Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa, and Chernihiv.
Shelters. During the year, the Foundation opened and equipped three shelters for children: in two lyceums in Kremenchuk and in a gymnasium in Nizhyn. As a result, hundreds of children returned to in-person education. Eight more shelters, particularly in the Odessa, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, are in the final stages of restoration.
Schools of Superheroes. The Foundation sponsored the establishment of six new educational centers for children undergoing long-term treatment. The centers were opened this year in Rivne, Odessa, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Lviv and Kryvyi Rih.
Reconstruction of the stadium in Hostomel. The team of the Foundation rebuilt the central stadium in Hostomel. It helped to restore a place for sports games and training for more than 6,000 children, including internally displaced persons.
The Future Index. The Olena Zelenska Foundation released the results of the first pilot study, the Future Index, which it initiated last year. The study provides a comprehensive assessment of the level of child well-being in Ukraine during the war and in the future.
Reconstruction of the Children's Creative and Sports Hub in Borodyanka. The Foundation launched the reconstruction of the Children's Creative and Sports Hub in Borodyanka, destroyed by the Russian occupiers; it will provide services to more than 2,000 children. Over the year, the Foundation's team developed project and budget documentation, conducted a tender procedure for the construction of the facility, and began preparatory construction work.
Humanitarian aid
Support for large foster families. The Foundation provided humanitarian aid to another 94 large foster families, i.e. every second such family in Ukraine.
Vacations for children of Ukrainian Heroes. The Foundation supported the children of fallen, captured and missing personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and helped finance their two-week vacation in Austria.
Recreation in the Artek-Bukovel camp. The Foundation continued its project to recreate children from large foster families in the Artek-Bukovel camp and funded six summer shifts for 1,500 children, including those from the Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Kyiv, Odessa, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy regions.
The Room for Childhood project. This year, the Foundation has completed the first wave of the project and built 14 new houses for large foster families, who lost their homes due to the war. The project covered eight regions: Kharkiv, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Zhytomyr, and Zakarpattia regions. The second wave of the project began, with another family receiving the keys to a new home on Christmas Eve.
Gifts on St. Nicholas Day. On the occasion of the holiday, the Foundation congratulated children who lost one or both parents to the war, children of prisoners of war from the National Guard of Ukraine, and children with hearing disabilities. The holiday gifts included learning devices and an interactive table. Additionally, all 17 branches of the School of Superheroes received light tables for sand animation and STEM kits from the Foundation.
Christmas performance at St. Sophia of Kyiv. The Foundation organized an immersive Christmas performance “Speaking Are Those Who Have Listened to Eternity” for schoolchildren at the Saint Sophia of Kyiv National Conservation Area. In 10 days, the free show by director Olena Koliadenko will be attended by almost 4,000 people. The Foundation also created separate groups for thousands of children, including those from foster and large foster families in the Kyiv region and children taken care of by NGOs.
Healthcare
Reconstruction and equipment of the Izyum hospital in the Kharkiv region. The Foundation constructed a new building for the physical rehabilitation department. It also provided the newly created department with the necessary equipment, rehabilitation simulators, and furniture. The next step is to start a comprehensive reconstruction of the hospital.
Voices Camp. The Foundation supported the initiative of the Voices of Children charitable foundation and funded four summer and two fall shifts for 270 children from the de-occupied and frontline areas.
Replenishment of the ambulance fleet. With the support of international partners, the Foundation supplied 77 ambulances to medics during the year. Most of the vehicles were received by emergency services to rescue people in frontline areas.
Evacuation helicopter. The Foundation supported the Donate to Evacuate initiative of the KSE Foundation and DefDev and financed the modernization and equipment with modern technology of a Mi-2 AM-1 helicopter for the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
Modernization of the bacteriological laboratory. The Foundation modernized the bacteriological laboratory of the Children's Medical Centre in Lviv. Now the laboratory will be able to provide high-quality diagnostics for nearly 20,000 patients from all over Ukraine every year. The Foundation carried out major repairs to the bacteriological laboratory and procured the necessary medical equipment and furniture.
“We have achieved all these results with the support of our international partners. It is thanks to them that the Foundation was able to implement several large-scale projects simultaneously this year. Our plans for the next year are to develop them further and launch new ones,” Olena Zelenska concluded.
