A woman receives needed supplies on March 15 when MCC partner Charitable Foundation Uman Help Center distributed MCC relief buckets, hygiene kits and blankets in Uman city, at a Baptist church, along with other humanitarian supplies.
What's going on?
On Feb. 24, 2022, Russian military forces began an invasion of Ukraine. Shelling, air strikes and other active hostilities have caused serious damage to homes and infrastructure, including power, gas and water systems.
Recent missile attacks targeted Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure across the country, leaving approximately 10 million people without access to electricity. This also affects access to heating and water, especially critical during the cold winter months.
Millions of people have been forcibly displaced since the conflict began, either relocating within Ukraine or fleeing the country according to the UN Refugee agency.
Conflict has been ongoing between Russia and Ukraine since late 2013, with Russia annexing the Crimea peninsula in March 2014.
What is MCC doing?
- MCC’s response includes several humanitarian projects providing food, cash, shelter, medicine and hygiene supplies to displaced people, host families and those who’ve fled or lost their homes. As of December 2022, MCC donors have generously raised more than $11 million USD toward our Ukraine response.
- MCC is working in regions across Ukraine including Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Volyn, Zakarpattia and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. MCC partners are providing heating fuel, generators, emergency shelter, hot meals, food baskets, cash assistance, medicine and other essential items to tens of thousands of Ukrainians.
- MCC is also offering trauma support for those affected by the ongoing violence, including children and partner staff.
- Partners indicate that local churches are instrumental in offering emergency support and basic needs; church buildings have been and continue to be places to gather for safety and prayer, and for people to come together to support their neighbours.
- MCC has shipped seven containers of emergency supplies to Ukraine. The shipments included essential relief items including relief kits, hygiene kits, infant care kits, comforters and canned meat. More shipments are being planned.
- MCC has worked in Ukraine since our beginnings in 1920, opening soup kitchens to provide relief to thousands of starving families. Our projects in Ukraine prior to the Russian military invasion included relief, peace, health and education programs.
Look at the difference you made in the 2022 Ukraine impact report.
What you can do
- Pray: Please join us as we pray for Ukraine.
- Give: MCC is accepting donations for a response in Ukraine. Our partners are working tirelessly on the ground, providing relief with food, medications, fuel and other supplies.
For those who want to donate emergency supplies, such as relief kits or comforters, to help vulnerable people in Ukraine — or in other places around the world — please visit our website or contact your local MCC office.
- Advocate: Send messages to the minister of foreign affairs and minister of international development calling for peacebuilding efforts alongside development and humanitarian work. Ask for an emphasis on local peacebuilding as an alternative to foreign military interventions and operations. You can also read our call for peace and non-violence in the midst of war, written by Rick Cober Bauman, executive director of MCC Canada, and Ann Graber Hershberger, executive director of MCC U.S.
- Welcome Ukrainians: The government of Canada has opened a separate immigration stream for Ukrainian refugees wanting to come to Canada either temporarily or permanently. Please contact your local provincial MCC office to find out about local opportunities and connections. We invite you to visit these Canadian government links to learn more: