"We want to give children a quality childhood": Rinat Akhmetov Foundation provides modern kitchen equipment to a kindergarten in frontline Zaporizhzhia

The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has provided kitchen equipment and utensils to support the operation of the catering unit at a preschool education institution in Zaporizhzhia as part of the Rinat Akhmetov to Children programme. Thanks to this support, children will be provided with hot meals even in the conditions of a frontline city. The certificate for the assistance was presented by Nataliia Yemchenko, Chair of the Foundation's Supervisory Board, together with Kseniia Sukhova, the Foundation's Chief Executive Officer.

"We are pleased that this equipment has found its purpose in Zaporizhzhia. We originally purchased it for one of the schools in Donetsk, but we did not have time to deliver it. It had been waiting for its time. Now we have decided to transfer the equipment to the city authorities, with whom we cooperate," explained Nataliia Yemchenko.

This kindergarten has continued operating despite the war. It currently has 125 registered children, and more than 60 to 75 children attend classes every day.

"Supporting children is one of the Foundation's key priorities. We want to give them the best childhood possible under today's wartime conditions. Our children are our future, the future of our nation. This kindergarten in Zaporizhzhia is truly an example for other frontline cities. The fact that children can attend kindergarten in person, communicate and socialise is extremely important," noted Kseniia Sukhova.

Representatives of the Foundation toured the renovated kitchen and spoke with the kindergarten team. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Zaporizhzhia has become a place of refuge for more than 150,000 internally displaced people, including many families with children, making the need for this kind of support especially great. The kindergarten staff emphasise that the upgraded equipment now makes it much faster and easier to prepare healthy meals.

"We have received tremendous support from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. The kitchen equipment will significantly improve the organisation of healthy meals in our kindergarten. Some of the people working in this kitchen have been here for 20 to 30 years, and they say: at last, we have modern equipment. It will speed up our work. We can now prepare more than 200 portions of meat dishes for children at one time," says Daria Dmytriieva, Director of the preschool education institution.

The city authorities also thanked the Foundation for caring about the safety and comfort of children. The combined efforts of the city and charitable organisations help care for Ukraine's youngest citizens during the most difficult times.

"We are the only community in Ukraine that provides free meals in all kindergartens using funds from the city budget. We made this decision at the very beginning of the war. We specifically requested assistance for the kindergarten because we provide two hot meals a day here: a first course and a second course. We portion the food here, reheat it and take it to the children in the shelter, so our kitchens are in constant use," says Vitalii Lysenko, First Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Science of the Zaporizhzhia City Council.

The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation supports educational and social initiatives in Ukraine, helping educational institutions improve conditions for children's learning, development and well-being even during this difficult period for the country.

The “Rinat Akhmetov to Children!” program implements projects that comprehensively support boys and girls whose childhood was taken away due to russian aggression. The Foundation's assistance has already reached more than 6 million children.