Rating agency "ElitExpert" and International expert club begins a cycle of publications about humanitarian and volunteer organizations of Odesa region , in order to return to them the attention of the society, which faded a little in the sixth month of the war, and possibly attract those Ukrainians who are not yet involved in the volunteer movement. Today we are talking to one of the founders of the Charitable Foundation "South Shore" Natalia Kartasheva (Pranzhu).
Natalya became a volunteer on April 3, 2014, when loyal Ukrainian servicemen left Crimea and arrived in Odesa. The military left everything there: houses, apartments, belongings. They took only what was in one car, in Odessa they needed almost everything, down to socks.
— I saw the news on Facebook that the boys needed an iron, clothes, food, and everything was needed. Like everyone else, I gathered what I could and brought it to our military and their families. That's how I got to know the 36th Brigade.
We traveled with friends in the unit, saw what was missing, and the soldiers themselves asked, because it was difficult to provide them at that time. They bought what they could, found and brought it - that's how it went. They helped some acquaintances, others, befriended the families of soldiers from the Crimea. That's how my volunteering started.
— How the Charitable Fund appeared "South Shore" ?
— I always work openly and honestly, and the fund just allows me to record everything, keep reports and be as transparent as possible. My husband opened our BF in December 2014, but we didn't know each other then. At that time, he also did a lot of helping children's homes, families with many children, and the army, among others.
In my understanding, a volunteer is a link between the army and those who donate money. Everything is built only on trust. At that time, the military could not always accept help, for example, food from unknown volunteers. How few these people are, and what did they bring them.
And in 2016, after working in this field for more than two years, I saw that the situation with the provision of the army has stabilized and we no longer have such a need. In addition, throughout 2015, I was a member of the Sarmat group under the Ministry of Defense, which consisted of 20 volunteers from all over Ukraine, and together with the Ministry and the Armed Forces, we were engaged in establishing a stable and permanent supply of the army. They worked with purchases, traveled in teams, taught how to write applications for obtaining the necessary supplies, worked with warehouses.
And just in 2015, we established communication and logistics between the army on the front line and the rear units. My work experience in logistics and foreign economic activities, which I have always been involved in, helped me. And thanks to the work we did, by the end of 2015, the provision of the army reached a new level, there were no longer any problems with food, clothing, and weapons. Of course, some moments arose somewhere, but they were of an isolated nature, and in general, the situation leveled off compared to the beginning of 2014. And I decided to stop my volunteering at that moment.
Where do volunteers get money for the purchase?
These are mainly donations from people and their own. Work with international organizations is carried out mainly on humanitarian assistance to the civilian population. These are mainly medicines, food products, things that go a lot for children, the same diapers, baby food. The job of a volunteer is precisely to find what is being asked for from those who can provide it. The same humanitarian aid from Europe must be delivered to Ukraine, distributed, and controlled. We are just a connecting link in this process.
What has changed since February 24?
Since the morning, when it became clear that the war had started, I received a lot of calls from my military friends, because we have not stopped communicating since 2016, with some of them we became friends with families. I refused until the last, so I already have a family, a child, and I don't have the free time that I had in 2014.
But the man looked at me and laughed, realizing that I would plunge into it again.
For the first month or a half, I helped the guys in the army, but only at my own expense, with friends and acquaintances. Well, then it became clear that the funds are running out, plus we have a business, we have to pay taxes, salaries to employees - and then I wrote a position on Facebook: they said, guys, I haven't contacted you since 2016, but now I need your help. And people responded, 90% of them are those who have helped me since 2014, know me personally and trust me.
And the important thing is that now everything has changed in the minds of most people. If in 2014 all this was far away for Odessans, today everything is different. When I go to Mykolaiv to visit our guys from the brigades, I have a completely different mood for a few days afterwards - you see destroyed houses and a half-empty city. Thank God that it is relatively calm here in Odessa.
What is the difference between volunteering in 2014 and 2022?
The situation then and now is very different. For example, many people who helped and donated to me in 2014 have now gone to fight. Big businesses that have helped us - a lot of their employees are on the front lines and they are helping them. In addition, the volume of work has fallen, ports are closed - the situation has changed dramatically compared to 2014.
But, on the other hand, today almost every family has someone either in the military service or in the armed forces, and people help their relatives. Nowadays, every second person has become a volunteer. Weaving nets, cooking food, helping pensioners, relieving humanitarian workers - this is all volunteering.
What is the current relationship between "your" in the volunteer environment?
As in any environment - family, business, with neighbors on the landing, there can always be misunderstandings and quarrels, but this is life, and there was nothing critical in my memory.
In my opinion, not everyone can do volunteering, you have to be able to afford it. Leave the child with a babysitter or grandmother when you go away for the whole day or even a few. In any case, you are spending the family's money, it is necessary for relatives to share and understand this. Not everyone can afford it.
I know many people who work, live an ordinary life, but come to help on weekends - weave nets, unload humanitarian aid, pack and distribute aid. And this is their contribution to our Victory, a very important contribution.
There are many moments where you always need help on the spot and it is not always possible to pay people. It's good that I have friends since 2014 who helped with the warehouse, cars, and my husband's employees always help with unloading and sorting the humanitarian truck. But I perfectly understand that not everyone has such a situation, for some it is more difficult, for some it is easier. Large funds that have large volumes can afford salaries, accountants, rent. In general, I will manage on my own, because we do not have the same volumes as in 2014. In addition, now I am not ready to spend as much time on it as I did then, I already have a family, children - now they are in the first place.
But I continue volunteering, because there are people who have trusted me since 2014 and can help, and there are military personnel who know me and ask for help. A volunteer is simply a connecting link, a communicator between the donor and the one who needs help, and the most important thing in this is trust.
Trust in foundations and volunteers
Today, the situation is different from 2014. At that time, this movement was just beginning, and people did not know each other, did not know about funds, about volunteers - there was understandable mistrust.
Currently, 90 percent of volunteers are the same as me, people who worked in 2014-2016 and resumed work after February 24. Today, trust is much easier, many people know me, all my work is displayed on social networks, everything can be checked. I don't think there are many scammers in this environment today.
In addition, it is always more convenient to work through the foundation, sooner or later the war will end and you may be asked where the money went. I have receipt-handover certificates for everything, checks, we all hand over documents to the military, they take it on their balance sheet. This is both order and trust.
Who are you helping now?
As I have already said, now I am not receiving the same amount of aid as in 2014, because there is no more free time and opportunities, and we receive an average of 2-3 Sprinter minibuses of aid from Europe per month.
The first is medical preparations, which I transfer to several Odesa hospitals where the wounded are.
And for the civilian population, it is mainly food and hygiene products, which we transfer to the Tarutyn OTG in the region, where many displaced persons are housed, and the local population also needs them. We have been working with this OTG for many years. We would like to help in large volumes, but there are no opportunities.
But the main direction for me is the help of the Armed Forces. For a long time, I have been cooperating with the Maritime Border Squad, Izmail border guards - today the basic needs of the boys are covered. We are currently working with brigades 35 and 36 located in the Kherson region. I have known the guys since 2014, and as I joke, I started my volunteering with them, and I want to end it with them, having provided everything necessary.
Also, thanks to the fact that now many large international funds have come to Ukraine, it is a little easier for us, the funds help the Armed Forces directly, and my task to a greater extent is in communication. An application comes from the brigade with a list of what is needed - I need to find funds that can provide it, connect them with the leadership of the brigade, help resolve issues regarding documents. Something can be transferred or produced by the business on the spot, it is also necessary to work out all the points, something I take upon myself, based on opportunities and funds. This is how we work - the crisis manager of the Armed Forces brigades.
What is ahead of us?
A lot depends on our partners, on the speed and volume of arms supply. But we will definitely win. This is a war of artillery and air defense, and I regret that since 2014, both we and the government have paid very little attention to the support and provision of these troops. In the first months of the war, the air defense had an acute shortage of almost everything, but now the situation has leveled off. In addition, the air defense guys already have good combat experience, as we can judge by the number of missiles that go astray. And for that, many thanks to them.
