This holiday season, families in Ukraine are listening to the sounds of sirens and missile strikes instead of Christmas music. Meanwhile, two organizations based out of Hampton Roads are continuing to provide Ukrainians with relief and a bit of holiday spirit.
"The war in Ukraine is far from over," said Gary LeBlac, the CEO of Mercy Chefs, an organization headquartered in Portsmouth.
LeBlanc is currently at the Romanian border as his team prepares for a new era of the Ukrainian war.
"This is forecast to be one of the worst winters in decades, some are saying the worst winter since World War Two," said he explained. "Power is off in a great part of the country. And it's hit or miss and other parts of the country. So it's going to be a very long and cold and difficult winter for the people of Ukraine."
LeBlac said the winter weather is posing new challenges for the organization, like difficulty getting food and supplies to more rural areas.
"The last three days had been very snowy here and interrupted a lot of our plan," he explained. "We did get the food all the way in, even though our team had to stop and make alternate travel plans, the snow was just difficult."
Gary and his team are based on the Ukraine/Romania border but are moving inland to cities like Kyiv and Kherson, to name a few.
"It is very important for us, with the winter approaching, to be in these locations inside of Ukraine. So we don't have such a great distance to go," said LeBlanc. "We can avoid some of the traffic at the border and also the weather."
Operation Blessing, a Virginia Beach-based organization, is also moving their operations. Originally at the Medyka border, the organization has moved its main station to Przemyśl, Poland, where more refugees are coming through. They then move supplies into Ukrainian cities, such as Sambir.
"As the war continues, the needs continue to increase, the needs are going to increase as the weather gets colder," said Jeff Wrestling, Operation Blessing's chief of staff. "The need for heat is of primary concern for us right now. So we are providing wood-burning stoves, or wood-fueled stoves, to residences, especially in the areas that have been heavily attacked."
Operation Blessing noted that they were getting these stoves and what supplies they can from Ukranian-owned businesses.
"Part of our goal in our procurement effort is to help Ukrainians and Ukrainian businesses. To keep Ukrainians engaged in their own marketplace," explained Wrestling.
But these organizations are not only providing life-saving supplies, but they're also trying to keep the holiday spirit alive during such a dark time.
"We are distributing advent calendars with little gift bags," Wrestling explained. "We have procured approximately 10,000 little gift bags with sweets in it that are just a special gift for the children."
Mercy Chefs says they are distributing toys and other supplies to children in Ukrainian orphanages.
"So many of these children are newly orphaned, they've lost their parents in this war, and everything in their lives has been disrupted," said LeBlanc. "We just don't believe any child should have to do Christmas without a toy. It was so funny because some of the girls were more excited about the body wash and toothpaste than they were even the toy."
Both Operation Blessing and Mercy Chefs believe they will continue helping Ukrainians through the winter months.
"The war in Ukraine is a real experience that people are dealing with daily," said Wrestling. "The Ukrainian people are a very strong people. And so they want their country back."
You can donate to Mercy Chefs and its relief efforts here.
You can donate to Operation Blessing and its relief efforts here.
