Aid for Ukraine: the NGO that could
On the night the war in Ukraine erupted, Radosc resident and head of the Christian Joy Foundation Henryk Podsiadly's phone begin to ring with pleas for help. Podsiadly got moving--and the phone has not stopped ringing since.
On the night of Feb. 24, 2022 the calls began.
For many there were panicked voices, garbled Whatsapps, sms’s and messages on social media in Polish, English and Ukrainian. Soon it seemed that every cell phone in Poland was buzzing until the battery ran out.
For the Russian bluff was no bluff at all. Ukraine was under invasion, and the collateral damage in terms of human life and suffering was within hours surreal.
But there is always a sliver of light, and in a sense this was Poland’s moment to shine. Across the country thousands of volunteers sprang into action, forming loose groups of individuals who linked up with homeowners, fire stations, gyms, hostels and literally anything in between in order to provide temporary shelter for the then-estimated three million Ukrainians to come.
For the next six weeks volunteers in Poland worked without sleep sorting out shelters, homes and schools and creating a makeshift social network that endures to various degrees to this day. Soon the government and larger humanitarian agencies would step in—which was not a bad thing, as many of the first volunteers simply burned out. They could no longer find temporary homes or source supplies. There was no sin in this. They’d done the best they could in the face of world events much larger, much more vicious and widespread (and better funded) than anything they themselves could ever hope to be.
Yet there were some who never stopped.
Among these stands Henryk Podsiadly and his Christian Joy Foundation, based in the Warsaw suburb of Radosc. Like many spur-of-the-moment volunteers, Podsiadly had links to Ukraine. Unlike many, his links were far-reaching, far more historic and also well-organized, as these came through Baptist churches spread far and wide across Ukraine. Podsiadly had also previously served as an assistant director at the Baptist Seminary in Radosc where he had organized youth camps for Ukrainian kids in cooperation with the Ukrainian Baptist Church in Warsaw—activities that continue to this day.
But this didn’t make it easy.
“When the invasion started I began to get calls,” said Podsiadly. “People immediately needed food and supplies. They asked for help and we began to collect donations. At first we could only fill a few vans, but we kept at it each week, and over the course of 2022 more donations came in, and more drivers came to load up and return to churches with food, gas-powered generators and other supplies.
“It has been building ever since.”
By December 2022 monthly food runs (or semi-monthly, as much depends on donations) had reached industrial-scale proportions. Donations exceeding PLN 300,000 per run meant round-the-clock organization and a constant juggle to raise funds, manage drivers—both incoming and outgoing—and also deal with endless accounting and procurement rules demanded by law for foundations registered in Poland.
The best-laid plans...
Typically, a date is selected and Podsiadly and other volunteers kick into overdrive in order to raise funds. This part of the effort is quite thankless, and it includes barriers ranging from sky-rocketing prices due to inflation and the demands of the war, not to mention documentation needs. And yes, it also includes donor fatigue. Finally, this process--due to time constraints--involves pre-orders or ordering pro-forma, which entails risk on Podsiadly's part.
In short, if the donations do not come in, the risk (and the debt) falls squarely on the foundation's (and Podsiadly's) back.
That said, there is little time to delay or to play it safe. The Ukrainian drivers—including many pastors or church volunteers in Ukraine—must be informed of the date ahead of time, and here they are allowed a three-day visa window for the pickup date to leave Ukraine, load up and return to destinations sometimes as distant as the edges of the conflict in cities such as Zaporizhzhia or even Bakhmut.
Meanwhile, Podsiadly buys everything from buckwheat to canned meat on scale, and he organizes semi-trucks full of aid from German volunteer groups. He has also often relied upon a remarkable Baptist organization based in Northern Ireland, the Hope for Youth Ministries run by Colin Tinsley and Tinsley's wife, Joanna, as well as donations from Poland, other countries in Europe and the US.
On food run days the atmosphere of teamwork and desperation is evident. Due to the typically massive amount of space needed to organize aid and distribution, volunteers and trucks laden with food and supplies meet on the side parking lot of the Makro store in the Warsaw suburb of Zabki.
What at first glance may seem chaotic is remarkably organized. By early morning, Podsiadly typically has lined up scores upon scores of pallets of buckwheat and canned goods. These will have been previously delivered in rows of pallets with each weighing often well more than 600 kilograms. The rows of pallets are often supplemented by additional buying sprees in Makro, during which Podsiadly runs up quite the credit card bill to round off needs.
Then come the volunteers, including a number from the expatriate community in Warsaw. These extra hands are necessary to break down pallets and divide goods equally among the 30-40 vehicles that will make the trip back into Ukraine. The vans will have been driven to Warsaw by Ukrainian drivers who also do much of the loading, but here step in volunteers do help take the edge off of what is a back-breaking and exhausting effort.
It should also be said that most of the larger runs have also featured a team from Tinsley’s Hope for Youth mission, which catalogues aid among vans and which sometimes sends volunteers into Ukraine to document safe delivery.
Also, the Hope for Youth mission, as well as Texan-based Nations Foundation, have also been instrumental in providing fuel-powered electric generators in the hundreds. And here, once again, volunteers from the Hope for Youth team have often travelled in delivery vans to document use and locations, with generators allocated to provide relief for locals in terms of light, cell-phone charging or even just heating tea or warming up.
Then there are the drivers. Most are in their mid-50s, but some include pastors and young sons who have often driven 40 or 50 hours straight from the border of conflict areas to Warsaw. When pressed, some tiredly recount rockets falling around them on departure, and this correspondent quickly picked up on on the aging effect of life in a combat zone among the youth who make the trip.
Here the stress is visible. One volunteer, Sergey, who has made repeated trips in and out of Ukraine, stood by his son and stoically mentioned that the front was now only three kilometres way from his village. And during a first interview--back in December 2022--he stated that "only 20 or 30 bombs had struck his town." His son seemed equally calm if not already resigned to the war.
At that time another driver was far more animated, seemingly buzzing with energy as he described how rockets had struck the buildings around him as he had raced out of range for Poland.
Yet although an April run revealed familiar faces, these, while equally steadfast, seemed much more worn. Two teens had noticeably aged. Back in December 2022 they appeared as would any 16-year-old born into a good family. By June of this year, there were the sunken eyes, lines carved into young faces. They were no longer teens but young men. In short, they could have been 20. Or older.
Loading up takes place after prayer, and once begun in earnest takes four or five hours. Some drivers, worried about making it back across the border within the three days allowed, start back immediately. Others risk six or eight hours of sleep. There are smiles when the drivers leave, but they are grim. Determined.
And thankful. This correspondent has seen endless photos of films and deliveries, with drivers ensuring that supplies are distributed to the vulnerable and not on a first-come, first-serve basis, which would invite abuse.
Other organizations have maintained a high level of commitment, such as the Christian protestant church, City Church Warsaw, whose pastor, Scott Curley got behind the foundation early in the fight.
“City Church Warsaw has been partnering with Henryk Podsiadly and the Christian Joy Foundation to help Ukrainians in need since just after the war began," Curley said. "Former members of City Church recommended Henryk's ministry to the church leaders, and they discovered a shared passion to help Ukrainians.
“What began with a few vans soon grew into a convoy, and then a fleet of vans, as more pastors from more churches got involved."
Curley noted that during the June drive 41 vans from Ukrainian churches were “all filled up."
“Henryk purchased PLN 300,000 worth of canned meat--the most sought-after food item for the Ukrainians--which enabled each van to have a pallet containing thousands of cans. Also, five trailer trucks came from Germany, Ireland and The Netherlands, bringing all sorts of humanitarian aid to fill the vans, from clothing to toiletries," he said.
Curley noted that “one man drove 24 hours straight from Zaporizhzhia to fill a van with food and other aid," and that drivers “are desperate for the help, and very thankful to receive it."
Finally, the statistics are also impressive. Since December this correspondent has witnessed personally more than PLN 400,000 of food supplies passing through the Makro parking lot.
A rushed, but painfully fair system also guarantees that different types of supplies are loaded equally into the variety of moving vans and even ambulances that make the trip back across the border.
Yet the total is higher, with Podsiadly noting that, according to the NGO’s records, some GBP 400,000 have been sent by the Tinsleys’ Hope for Youth Foundation, PLN 127,000 from the Cargill Poland company and another USD 125,000 has been sent from The Nation Foundation out of Dallas, Texas, with non-denominational Christian church City Church Warsaw also contributing approximately USD 40,000.
The size and consistency of effort also drew the attention of the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland, as well as that of US Ambassador Mark Brzezinski, who during a January run made the effort to attend and help load.
“There are many other major, medium and minor donors who have helped on many occasions,” Podsiadly said, adding that thus far aid has included “18 wheeler trucks and more than 200 vans full of food and other humanitarian aid, including 529 generators.”
And all the while Podsiadly is the fulcrum. But despite successive runs, donor fatigue is real—even though calls for help have only increased with the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.
“The calls never really stopped,” he said. “As soon as we sent supplies, we would get calls from other towns or churches that they also need support, but the destruction of the dam made things much worse. People are suffering.”
Podsiadly remains optimistic, however, noting that early on the food runs consisted of 15 vans, but these grew to 20, 25, 35 and 43.
“The next food run will take place at the Makro Ząbki car park on September 1, 2023,” he added. “On Sept. 1, I would like to invite 50 vans from Ukraine and load them up with food and humanitarian aid—this will be a challenge, we know, and it’s tough to keep on asking for aid, but these people are in need, and if anyone should help, why not you?”
Those who would like to donate may do so directly using the following account information:
Chrześcijańska Fundacja Radość
- Przyleśna 3, 04-807 Warszawa
biuro.fundacja.radosc@gmail.com
http://www.fundacja-radosc.pl/
KRS: 0000245205 NIP: 952-198-19-33
Rach. Bank.: PL 77 1050 1025 1000 0023 0001 5076
SWIFT: INGBPLPW
USD account: PL 44 1050 1025 1000 0090 8190 1911
EUR account: PL11105010251000009081936552
GBP account number: PL 92105010251000009072321715
PayPal: biuro@fundacja-radosc.pl