We provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Kherson, Ukraine.
Every dollar donated is directed to specific on-the-ground needs,
including key logistics support, supplies, food, medicine, and construction materials for the people of Kherson.
So far, we have raised and deployed over $80,000!
The Team on The Ground
Dziva is a grassroots NGO started by a small team in Kherson immediately after the war started. They guarantee all monies raised reach the people of Ukraine.
“Every day we wake up and go to warehouses, stand in lines, travel all over the country to find what we need and deliver it on time. We communicate with a huge number of people, volunteers, charitable organizations. Our main task is to help our Ukrainian brothers in collecting and transferring products, medicines, the help of the Armed Forces and help with leaving the occupation.” —Dziva
After 40 days of Kherson occupation by Russia, Dziva decided to escape and moved to Ukrainian controlled territory in the city of Odesa.
In the beginning, Dziva set up two offices, one in Kherson and another in Odesa. From one office to another, delivered humanitarian aid for people in Kherson who were under the stifling occupation.
Today, Dziva has since grown to eight offices in the Kherson region. The main office in Odessa has a large team of volunteers to collect and distribute supplies.
FB Link: https://www.facebook.com/p2pdziva
Dziva is nationally recognized by the Ukrainian government.
PROVIDING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Working with Dziva, we identified the most important ways we could help them help the people of Kherson. Transportation between the Dziva offices as well as getting aid to the people required reliable transportation. We helped them purchase 2 Sprinter Vans which have been going non-stop since early 2022. Later, Dziva requested a larger truck to help transport aid from EU countries back to Ukraine and we were able to help them purchase a large truck for this purchase. These vehicles have been critical for Dziva to obtain and distribute aid throughout Kherson.
Leading Behind The Scenes
Katya was born and raised in Kherson, (which was just illegally “annexed” by Russia) and left 6 years ago when she met Kurt Sonderegger who was visiting Ukraine on a business trip. She was working as his English translator and they soon fell in love, got married and Katya moved to California to start a new life with him. After they married, she became a local Encinitas resident, had two beautiful young children, and was for the most part, living a wonderful life in North County San Diego. Like us, she simply wanted to take care of her family.
Then Russia attacked her home country and everything changed! Her family and friends in Kherson (including her parents and grandmother) were forced to deal with the invasion and make many hard choices. Do we stay, do we flee, can we flee, where will we go, what will happen to our lives, what do we do? Meanwhile for Katya, it became an obsession to help her family and friends even though she was so far away. Kataya communicates with her sources on-the-ground and amplifies messages through social media to help people survive this nightmare in her hometown. The stories she has shared are beyond sad, heroic and simply unfathomable.
Katya began raising money immediately by partnering with a local philanthropist and organizing a series of events in their community. Through these events, Kataya and Kurt are able to share their unique insight and perspective into this tragic and unconscionable war with Russia.
To date, they have raised over $65,000 in support of the people of Ukraine.
