It was the day Russia invaded Ukraine.
Pavel Smolyakov and Ludmila Strokatyuk appeared on the Zoom call. Also on the screen was a conference room of people from Florence-based Master Provisions.
Smolyakov and Strokatyuk are the directors for My Home for Orphans in Kherson, Ukraine. Master Provisions team members were checking in on the kids, for whom the nonprofit has been donating clothing, food, and any other necessary provisions.
“We have kids, teenagers who are orphans,” Strokatyuk said. “They don’t have anywhere to go. We brought food and water to them.”
Strokatyuk said the team prepared a place for the kids to sleep in the basement of a church in case something happened at night.
“We are hearing that the Russians could try to take over Kherson at night,” Strokatyuk said. Kids’ voices could be heard periodically in the background as she spoke to the group through a translator.
Master Provisions has been looking for ways to help, the nonprofit stepped up.
After all, they’ve been helping people in Ukraine for decades.
The Ukraine Emergency Fund gives 100 percent of the money donated to help families in Ukraine. Because it can be difficult to get supplies or money to Ukraine right now, Master Provisions is working with Sasha Gordenko, founder of My Home for Orphans.
Gordenko has cash reserves that he can use to buy supplies for the children in the orphanages and families in need. Master Provisions will then use all donations to pay Gordenko back for the supplies he has purchased and distributed.
While Master Provisions started by sending supplies to Ukraine in the 90s, that evolved into helping orphans in Ukraine. Now the nonprofit sends supplies to the two homes Gordenko runs — one home is for infants and the other is for children with disabilities.
“The emotion last week on that Zoom call was really just — it pulled at your heartstrings is the best way to describe it,” Megan Jackson, development director at Master Provisions, said Monday. “It was very moving and really their only request was for prayer.”
A bombing not far from the group homes on Friday is what prompted the basement sleeping arrangements.
“They are praying that somehow or another it will end quickly,” said Roger Babik, president at Master Provisions.
Gordenko’s biggest priority, Babik said, was “How do we take care of all these kids to keep them out of harm’s way?”
While Master Provisions has been in existence since Babik started it 28 years ago, until the last 10 years or so they were primarily focused on international mission work.
“Now our focus is primarily rescuing surplus food,” Jackson said.
Drivers pick up surplus food from grocery stores, convenience stores and other Northern Kentucky locations where the food would otherwise be thrown away. They bring it to a warehouse in Florence, where more than 200 local nonprofits can come to get food for their organizations.
Master Provisions also partners with Isiah House, a Covington nonprofit, to bring a mobile food pantry to Covington and Ludlow on the last Saturday of every month.
But right now, Babik said, the nonprofit has all eyes on the kids in Ukraine and how they can raise money that will help them.
Money that is donated to Ukraine Emergency Fund can buy medicine, food, diapers, hygiene supplies and more.
“So these kids can be taken care of during a time when it can be difficult to get into Ukraine,” Babik said. “One hundred percent of that money will end up turning into supplies.”
On the Friday zoom call, Strokatyuk thanked Master Provisions for the support they have provided to children and families over the years.
“We were like two wings for them,” she said. “The American part and the Ukranian part who helped them and sheltered them from evil. It’s an example of how even people who live on different continents can work together to make a difference in people’s lives.”
How to help
Send a check to Master Provisions, 7725 Foundation Dr., Florence, Kentucky 41042
