Serhiy Zhadan Charitable Foundation: Eastern Ukraine should be an integral part of the country’s cultural space

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Famous Ukrainian writer Serhiy Zhadan co-founded of a Charitable Foundation. Well-known Ukrainian artist has informed about the Foundation’s nearest activities

Serhiy Zhadan Charitable Foundation will provide aid in the humanitarian field, which means educational, cultural and healthcare assistance to the front-line cities. This was stated by Serhiy Zhadan, poet, writer, musician, volunteer, co-founder of the Foundation, at a briefing held at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.

Why was the Foundation set up?

“We have delivered several tons of books to Donbas, supported dozens of schools, kindergartens, orphanages, libraries, hospitals over these two years. We organized festivals, concerts, and at some point we realized the prospects of this process is associated not only with the war. If we want Eastern Ukraine to be an integral part of the country’s cultural and political space, we must work more systematically and on a massive scale, so we decided to register,” said Serhiy Zhadan.

The first projects: concerts and educational programs

Several performances have been already planned for February. The money will go to support the families of fallen soldiers. The Foundation will also patronize educational programs for children. “In recent years, we brought toys, sports equipment, books, and now want to provide a different kind of aid. We are going to switch to educational programs, and introduce some new professions, which were not popular in Donbas before. They relate to IT and agriculture,” recounted Oleh Abramychev, the Foundation co-founder and volunteer.

East is Ukraine

“We are making great efforts for people in the east not to lose a sense of belonging to Ukraine. They should not even think that they are not wanted. […] We are east-dependent people; we can’t help going there because we feel our responsibility. If you can do something for the country, but do not do it, it is a civil crime,” believes Angelica Rudnytska, singer, TV presenter, civil activist and volunteer.

Ivan Lenyo, musician, one of the leaders of the rock band Kozak System, noted that the Foundation is also an attempt to compete with the existing foundations that are not always on the Ukrainian side. “Each case, good or bad, is supported by someone. We know how many bad things were done by people whose names sound familiar, and how little we know about those who do good things, in contrast to all the foundations, ” he commented.