The plight of abandoned children in Ukraine intensifies drastically as the horror of the Russian invasion continues.
- UN estimates over five million children dislocated
- 142 child deaths verified, but UN warns number is certainly much higher
- UNICEF declares this the fastest unfolding emergency in 31 years—a child refugee every second
How an Unplanned Shelter Visit Led to UCAF
Teaching “Amercanski” football to a group of street kids in Ukraine in 2004 gave founder Jeff Ring the inspiration to start the Ukraine Children’s Aid Fund. Since then, UCAF has provided relief to children suffering under the despair of poverty and abuse, many homeless or abandoned in grossly underfunded orphanages or infirmaries.
Through the generous support from donors like you, 100% of funds given has gone towards supplying essential food, clothing, medical care--and hope. The invasion, however, has made the plight of these children unimaginably more desperate and their needs ever more dire. While many children have been able to flee the country with their families, homeless and orphaned children have been left behind, forgotten to face alone the violence and destruction. Shortages of all of life’s basic needs--often taken for granted--have become increasingly severe and nonexistent for many.
Your support is more crucial today than ever, and the need will continue long after in the invasion’s aftermath. Please donate today with the confidence that all your contribution goes to specifically support these children of Ukraine.
“Nobody needs them.”
It’s unimaginable to talk about children like this.
But that is the stark reality in Ukraine right now, and even the years before the war.
Pastor Sergii Kukushkin is UCAF’s representative in Ukraine. He has witnessed personally the desperate and heartbreaking conditions there. He has observed, “There are people who try to leave the country, but the children in orphanages stay—nobody needs them.”
Although over two-thirds of the children have been able to leave the country with their families, 3.2 million remain—many of them without families, no one to care for them.
UCAF has been specifically focused on Ukrainian children’s needs since 2004, years before the current situation worsened conditions further. And because Sergii and others are on the ground in Ukraine, we are uniquely positioned to determine and respond to the most pressing requirements as the situation demands. We also ensure all funds received are appropriately and effectively channeled to directly help meet those needs. We were in Ukraine long before the war, and will be there long after when, perhaps, the world’s attention may move on to other crises, while Ukraine’s forgotten children remain.
Watch Sergii’s testimony and, please, donate today.