“Thank You for Supporting Our Children”: The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation Delivered Holiday to Young IDPs From Mariupol Who Live In Dnipro

The festive mood travels around the country together with the team of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, which creates New Year’s miracles in places where children are waiting for them the most. The other day, the Foundation visited a hostel in Dnipro, where IDPs from Mariupol live, to deliver a holiday to young Ukrainians whose lives were changed by the war.

Fabulously decorated Christmas trees and New Year’s decorations created an amazing atmosphere in the hostel. And the festive events organized by the Foundation as part of the New Year Campaign Rinat Akhmetov for Children helped the kids to have a good time, enjoying their conversations with Saint Nicholas, as well as some contests and games, face painting, singing, citing poems, dancing, and having fun. And, of course, rejoicing at the gifts!

“We really liked the holiday and the gifts. Our older child is just delighted, and the younger one too! Many thanks to Rinat Akhmetov for supporting our kids. I wish him health and happiness, so that he does more of this for all children who need it,” shared her impressions one of the mothers.

This hostel is a pilot project of the initiative #IAmMariupolHousing, which the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation joined as a partner. The first building accommodated 127 IDPs from Mariupol, who live here now, including 55 children. The second and the third buildings are inhabited by 360 families. This cooperation continues, as the Foundation undertakes to furnish and equip common use areas, providing some furniture, household appliances, toys, and setting up the play spaces for kids.

“We are now in a hostel for IDPs from Mariupol, which was built almost from scratch. It was almost destroyed, as I saw it in the photos. It has been re-built. Everything is so beautiful and new here. And we live here now,” said one of the teenagers during the event. Like other children, he also shared his main dream: to see the war end as soon as possible.

The New Year Campaign Rinat Akhmetov for Children has reached more than a million Ukrainian children in more than twenty years. Follow the course of the Campaign here: https://akhmetovfoundation.org/news