Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and attacks on the civilian infrastructure leave millions of Ukrainians without power in the middle of a freezing cold winter. To meet local citizens’ urgent need for help, the Norwegian humanitarian foundation KPK-Ukraina distributes donations from various organisations and private donors in Norway. With a donation of a 330 kVA generator set, BOS Power is one of them.
KPK-Ukraina regularly loads lorries with clothes, mattresses, duvets, pillows, sleeping bags, food, and technical appliances from private donors and organisations in Norway. The need for emergency power generators is acute, as the attacks on critical infrastructure all over Ukraine have left millions of Ukrainians without electric power.
A warm meal for Ukrainians in need
For 25 years, KPK-Ukraina has run a farm and an orphanage in Uzhgorod, in the Transcarpathia region of Western Ukraine, while distributing aid shipments to the local citizens in need. During the ongoing war they have distributed many shipments into the war-torn country.
Uzhgorod is near the Slovakian border and has avoided direct attacks. It has therefore seen a massive influx of refugees from the war-torn regions seeking shelter, healthcare, and warm meals. The electric power supply in Uzhgorod is very unstable and is normally only available for one hour a day.
Aid workers at the farm produce more than three thousand meals a day for children at the orphanage as well as for the local citizens and refugees. With the generator from BOS Power, they will secure the power supply for the daily operations including cooking and covering other basic needs at the farm
KPK-Ukraina grateful for help
- We are so grateful for your support with this generator set. This will give us a long-awaited backup to the generator set we already have today, says Odd Arne Lyster, KPK-Ukraina.
We experienced at the beginning of December, after massive bombing of the power supply in Ukraine, that Mercy Farm was without access to electricity. Our generator started up, but after only two to three days the diesel pump stopped, and all hot meals production stopped for two days.
This shows how incredibly vulnerable we are to attacks on the civilian infrastructure. To be able to help so many people and provide daily meals and other support, we need reliable power supply.
With your generator set, we will now be able to carry out maintenance on the old one at the same time as we can continue to prepare hot meals for the refugees. This is a great help for us to continue helping the poor and refugees for a long time to come. Thank you very much, may God bless you all abundantly, he adds.
From idea to donation
- One day, while I was talking to my colleagues about helping Ukrainians in whatever way we could, I remembered a generator in our warehouse that we no longer used, says Trond Bagge, at the sales department at the BOS Power head office in Bergen. Within the next few days, arrangements were made with KPK-Ukraina for pickup of the generator set.
- I am so glad that we can contribute with help for the Ukrainian people. As fellow Europeans, we need to support them during these challenging times.
Trond Bagge from the sales department at BOS Power.
Since BOS Power last exhibited the generator at a fair, it has been stored for future use in the warehouse. Fully functional, it just needed a quick service check to make sure it started and works as it should.
As service technicians have been busy preparing the generator for use in Ukraine, other employees at the head office have been busy searching through their private homes for items they no longer have use for. Bags filled with blankets, clothes, and other essentials have been collected from the employees in the office, ready for departure to Ukraine.
On 20 January, KPK-Ukraine turned up with a lorry bound for Uzhgorod and the generator together with employees’ private donations were loaded, ready to make a difference for Ukrainians in acute need.
About KPK-Ukraina
- The purpose of KPK-Ukraina is helping people in West-Ukraine who live in poverty.
- The organisation operates an orphanage, a youth centre and a farm that provides food for children, refugees, handicapped, elderly and homeless people in Western Ukraine.
- They have a campsite where several hundred kids come each year to play, get food and live together for a few days.
- They support two retirement homes by paying salaries to workers. If not, the retirement homes would have been closed.
- They support twelve villages for Romani people regularly with food and humanitarian help.
- Has been providing humanitarian aid in Ukraine since 1998 and collaborates closely with House of Mercy, a local foundation in Ukraine.
- The organisation was founded after a group of youths attended Christian education in the Norwegian Lutheran Mission society (NLM) in the 1990s.