Olena Zelenska Foundation, on the eve of Christmas, greeted all foster and big foster families in Ukraine. Ukrainian and international companies contributed to this effort. Thanks to their collaboration, over 3,100 families with over 13,000 children across the country simultaneously received gifts on December 23.
"Today, even during the war, every child, as always, awaits the Christmas miracle. Especially the children for whom a previously unfamiliar family has become their own," the First Lady said.
Olena Zelenska personally visited a family in Kyiv region with gifts. The Foundation's team visited this family as one of the first in the spring of 2022, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Parents, Anatoliy and Iryna, have been raising children for over 10 years. Since the creation of the foster family, 14 children have lived in it.
"On December 23, Ukrainian celebrities became Christmas St. Nicholases for families across the country: Dmytro Monatik visited families in Kharkiv region, while Volodymyr Dantes greeted a family in Kyiv region. Dmytro Komarov paid a visit to a family in Galicia, Oleksiy Zavhorodniy visited a family in Cherkasy, and Yuriy Tkach and Yevhen Koshovyi together visited two families in Dnipro.
Director of the Foundation Nina Horbachova, jointly with the team, greeted two families in Kharkiv region.
"This project proved to be quite a challenge for the Foundation's team. Organizing such a large-scale campaign for children in wartime conditions is not easy. But we managed to give the children a holiday! Thanks to our partners from different countries around the world who supported this initiative and sent gifts to our children," the Foundation's Director, Nina Horbachova, said.
Gifts were collected jointly with partners over three months. The Christmas sets include Christmas trees, decorations, construction toy sets, puzzles, stationery, creative kits, various toys, sweets, and books for the whole family. Collaboration became possible thanks to Ukraine's embassies and honorary consuls in Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, and Türkiye.
"The project partner, Nova Poshta, provided their putting together, festive packaging, and courier delivery of holiday sets throughout Ukraine. Within two months, the company received gifts from the Foundation's partners from different parts of the world and put them together into festive sets. On December 23, couriers all over Ukraine delivered bright Christmas parcels to the doorstep of each foster family.
The Foundation's team expresses gratitude to all the partners who contributed to the implementation of the "Christmas at the Doorstep" project: Nova Poshta Group of Companies, Epicenter K, Ukrainian Food Bank Federation, Burgenland federal state, The LEGO Foundation, Toms Group, Carletti A/S, DSV A/S, Netcompany-Intrasoft A/S, Room2Play, Leg & idé, MOTTO, Vestergaard Group, SNCF, La région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, La Région Normandie, BIC, Le Petit Prince, Stellantis, FC Rennes, Loacker, Billa, Handelsverband, FC Bayern München AG, Deutscher Verband der Spielwarenindustrie e.V., Sav-Orbico, Perfetti Van Melle, TOBB, HARIBO Türkiye, and Turkish Football Federation.