Around Orthodox Easter in 2025, I spent time with a group of volunteers in western Ukraine.
Each week, a group of volunteers travels between the West and the East, delivering what is needed: meals, care packages, and support to soldiers on the front lines and families displaced by war. They evacuate when needed, drive long distances, and return to do it again. I joined them on their 164th trip since the start of the full-scale invasion
On the East, women and mothers cook in large quantities, preparing food that can travel. On weekends, children and young adults gather around long tables, making over 700 mini pizzas in a single day, packing boxes, and contributing in the ways they can.
As Easter approached, traditional foods found their way into the packages. Paska, a sweet bread typically shared among family, was sent across the country instead, reaching those far from home.
This is a story about care. About a country holding itself together through small, repeated acts. About the West reminding the East, the soldiers, that they are thought of, that they are not forgotten.
