The war is creating a humanitarian disaster. This week, UNHCR is reporting more than 3.5 million Ukrainians have fled Ukraine for neighboring countries including Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Poland, Hungary, and beyond, and more than 6.5 million are displaced in Ukraine. Most people who have been forced to leave their homes will struggle to access food.
In a few weeks, internal stocks of the Ukraine food bank will be exhausted as production within the country is limited. Food is currently being gathered in logistic centers near the Western Ukraine border to redistribute it all over the country. It remains a dangerous situation.
In neighboring countries, food banks are recovering and delivering food to refugees, particularly in Hungary, Moldova, Poland, and Romania. Poland alone has seen an influx of over 2 million refugees and the food banks are working nonstop. The requests for help are varied from funding to logistics and food donations.
To aid in the response, The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) created an Emergency Response Fund that will support the work of our partner, the European Food Banks Federation, which represents food banks in 29 European nations, including Ukraine (Kyiv City Charitable Foundation Food Bank) and neighboring countries. GFN is supporting urgent needs, such as food inventory shortages, operational disruptions, and other critical requirements arising from the inflow of refugees and Ukrainians who have had to leave their homes.
Please consider supporting communities in Ukraine and surrounding countries: https://www.foodbanking.org/?form=EmergencyResponse.