By David | a guy who thinks about crackers too much
A BIG thank you to GlobalGiving, and to all of you, your support has allowed us to employ 10 people and upgrade our facility to prepare and delivery over 25k meals per week to Ukrainians, and to the Moldovan families who host them.
We managed to make a video last week, check the attached link, it shows what we've been up to the last month. Those of you who are my friends and family, you know I’m not on social media, I don’t keep up with emails and I rarely give interviews to news crews, so this report is probably all you’ll hear from me, at least till things cool off around here.
We also just posted a new project, teaching basic construction skills to refugees while they stay here, in case they want to be part of the effort to rebuild Ukraine after they go home.
Otherwise, wanted to share some emotional stories from the last month.
Most recently, while distributing a few hundred food boxes last Sunday, we asked a sandwich shop across the street to make warm meals and drinks for our staff and volunteers. They’d pop over for 5 min to eat, since it was cold and rainy out, between moving around crates for 2 hours. When my colleague Garth, from Canada went to pay, the restaurant gave us 50% off, said they watched what we were doing and thought it was cool. I was impressed because it was just a small place barely paying the rent, but also because it was such a contrast to the McDonalds across from where we delivered boxes earlier in the day, who called the police on us TWICE...
Then about two weeks ago we got a second delivery of whole grain crackers, that we include in the bags for kids to eat on the way home. The first time the driver asked what we needed a truck of crackers for, I showed him around, explained our refugee project, he was paying attention. Then the next time he came he pulled me to the side and gave me 20 euros (about $25), a donation for our operation, cause he saw us on TV. He said he's been lucky in his life, had both parents around growing up and a sister. I got choked up, knowing that's a day’s salary for him.
And the third story is from a few weeks ago. If we back up for a second, the day all this started, I woke up, heard the news, then ran straight to the box store (METRO), and filled the van half way with bulk food, then later with beds. Anyway, once we transitioned to packing thousands of portions per day, we needed to buy and store pallets of ingredients. The problem was that the supply chain got all mixed around, and people started hoarding, so I had a real hard time getting what we needed. It happened more than once that I had something reserved, or even paid for it, then when the driver would show up, someone else had gotten there hours before and paid extra. Consequently, I ended up running around to find stuff and confirm it and pay on the spot then load in my van, or sit there and wait for a driver. Well, one day in the middle of all those start up pains, I cried a little as I ate some crackers driving home.
You see, earlier that day I went to a place that imports rice, but he ran out, said their warehouse in Odesa was destroyed. Then I went to buy tea bags from another distributor, but he said the basic ones were packaged somewhere in Ukraine, and they got hit too. Then I go to a frozen foods factory, to look at a packaging machine, price was cheap, then I learn it was made in Kiev, so no chance for spare parts, had to pass. And last stop was another place that sells tomato sauce, made in Moldova, so no problem with supply, but he gave me a pack of crackers to try, said they're from a partner in Ukraine. He got a truck of them really cheap, said I could almost name my price, that the other factories in that town were either hit or not functional, only the cracker factory still works, and they're running 24/7, selling or trading for whatever they can get. I imagined the people working there, doing what they can to barely hold their community, and families together, even if it's driving around in a forklift or printing labels. And how they probably do the thing like Tom Hanks in The Terminal, eating crackers at every meal…
Anyway, thank you again for your support, everyone on our team is working very hard these days. And we're not going anywhere, we'll get this mess cleaned up, we'll learn from it, we’ll heal, and we'll move on.
David
Links:
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