Olena Zelenska Foundation greets all foster families in Ukraine as part of "Christmas on the doorstep" initiative

On the eve of Christmas, Olena Zelenska Foundation greeted all foster and large foster families in Ukraine. This was made possible with the help of Ukrainian and international companies. Thanks to them, more than 3100 families across the country, raising over 13,000 children, received gifts  on December 23.

"Today, even in times of war, every child is waiting for a Christmas miracle. Especially the children who have been welcomed into a new foster family," said the First Lady.

Olena Zelenska personally visited the family in Kyiv with gifts. This family was one of the first visited by the Foundation's team in the spring of 2022, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Anatolii and Iryna, the parents, have been raising 14 children for over 10 years.

On December 23, Ukrainian celebrities became "St. Nicholas" for families across the country: Dmytro Monatik visited families in Kharkiv, Volodymyr Dantes greeted a family from Kyiv, Dmytro Komarov paid a visit to a family in Galicia, Oleksii Zavhorodnii visited a family in Cherkasy, Yurii Tkach and Yevhen Koshovyi together visited two families in Dnipro. Nina Horbachova, Director of the Foundation, and her team visited two families in Kharkiv.

"This project was a great challenge for the Foundation team. It's not easy to organize such a big event for children in times of war. But we were able to bring joy to everyone! We thank our partners from different countries around the world who supported this initiative and sent gifts to our children," said Nina Horbachova, Director of the Foundation.

The gifts were collected in partnership over the course of three months. The Christmas packages include a Christmas tree, decorations, construction kits, puzzles, stationery, craft kits, various toys, sweets and books for the whole family.

This collaboration became possible thanks to the embassies and honorary consuls of Ukraine in Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, and Turkey.

The project partner, Nova Poshta, provided packaging, festive wrapping, and courier delivery of the holiday sets throughout Ukraine. For two months, the company received gifts from the Foundation's partners in different parts of the world and assembled them into holiday sets. On December 23, couriers delivered colorful Christmas packages to the doorsteps of every foster family in Ukraine.

The Foundation's team expresses gratitude to all the partners who joined the implementation of the "Christmas on the Doorstep" project: Nova Poshta Group of Companies, Epicentr K Company, 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, МОТТО, 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, Turkish Football Federation.