A Letter from the OurBorsch Founder

I grew up knowing that bread is sacred, you don’t play with bread, and you don't dare throw bread away. Why? Because.

Turns out the real reason is generational trauma. My grandparents were little kids during WWII and they knew what hunger was. Real hunger. The kind where you eat pigeons, the kind where you risk your life to pick carrots in a minefield, the kind that people are experiencing right now while hiding in their basements during the Russian occupation. One of my childhood obsessions was the Holocaust. I am half Jewish, and I could never understand why someone would hate my family so much. We are nice, we are funny, no one is a criminal, we aren’t rich… It took me years to wrap my mind around the power of suggestion and propaganda. I studied Theatre and Psychology and Clowning and am still enamored by the idea of persuading the masses. And here it is, 1939 repeating itself. Russia thinks Ukrainians shouldn’t exist. Russians think Ukrainians are Nazi’s. Someone is trying to erase my bloodline AGAIN.

I woke up on Feb 24th to a Twitter notification that Russia had begun its invasion. It felt like a million needles pierced through my body at the same time. I ran to my husband and said “it started” and couldn’t say anything else because the tears took over. It was like this for 4 days. Downloaded Telegram, started obsessively checking Telegram, reading in Russian, re-learning how to read in Ukrainian, translating many words, rinse and repeat.  In the days to follow, I learned what a bayraktar was, why Ukraine was asking for javelins, that body armor needed to be at least a level 4, and got into several arguments with people who tried to tell me that the Mariupol maternity ward had ammunition stored in it and not mothers and babies.

On Feb 28th, my mom told me that our family friends in Odesa are using their own funds in various places to help equip the city for attack, feed families who are passing through. Simultaneously, another family member was donating everything from his family’s store to civilian defenders. I knew I wanted to help but outside of sending my own cash I was not sure how. My friend (and Co-founder) Sandy Latushkina had just started raising cash for her family who fled with nothing. She gave me the shove of confidence I needed to send the first letter out, and donations started pouring in.

I want to start off by acknowledging there is no such thing as too much help right now. The war has left millions homeless, the number of orphans is rising, and many who are lucky to evacuate are leaving with the clothes on their back.

Through my and my family’s efforts via email, Facebook and LinkedIn, we raised $71,558 in under 2 months. The money has provided funds and necessary items to many many many people in Ukraine and still, it’s not enough.

My cousin and Co-Founder Serg was the first to say “let’s make it legit” and a few weeks later here we are.

As the newly founded OurBorsch, I want us to continue on this path of direct aid with the goal of scaling our efforts to help the most vulnerable populations. While we are helping financially, what we're actually doing is enabling local communities to help themselves. My friend recently said “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be useful. If it wasn’t for this I would be sitting waiting to be bombed” These words were simple yet eye-opening. People need hope, they need purpose…

We want to restore and improve orphanages around Ukraine to accommodate all of the new orphans as a result of this war, and when we win, partner with international organizations to help with adoptions.

We want to help elderly people get groceries and medicines they need and will do so through local volunteers.

We want to make sure that animals who were left behind due to the passing of their masters find a new home and have food to eat. In the future we want to address the stray issues in Ukraine.

We are in the process of building partnerships with local Ukrainian NonProfits and volunteer organizations. We cannot do this alone and are not pretending to know everything. We are humble and determined, we cry with Ukraine and we stand with Ukraine. I want to rebuild with the memory of yesterday, help those who need it today and make a brighter future for the children of tomorrow.

To save one life, is to to save the world entire – Talmud