What's the problem?
February 24, 2022. Explosions echoed across Ukraine, reaching even Lutsk, a city in the west.
The Ukrainian people's response was instant. In the first year of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian civil society raised over UAH 20 billion (about $482 million) through various funds and initiatives, many of them directly supporting the military. The army's needs kept growing, and so did the fundraising efforts.
What's the solution?
"If you want people to donate to your cause, you have to be creative," activist Olia Valianik says.
Olia Valianik and Oleksii Kushnier. Photo: Angar Charity Foundation
When Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, her then-boyfriend, Oleksii Kushnier, joined the Azov Regiment, a volunteer fighter battalion at the time, as a paramedic. Olia, meanwhile, threw herself into volunteering, raising aid for soldiers fighting in Donbas.
Later, Oleksii returned from the war, and the couple got married. They bought a house in a village and moved in with their two dogs.
Life settled into a rhythm: Oleksii and Olia worked, helped the military, and supported the families of fallen soldiers. They volunteered with the Legal Hundred human rights organization and even started a socially conscious business together.
Like volunteer work, theater had always been part of Olia's life. During the protests of the Revolution of Dignity in Kyiv, when Olia first met Oleksii, he told her about Harmyder, an independent theater in Lutsk, and sent her a casting call. She decided, without hesitation, that she belonged there. For the next five years, the stage was her life.
Then, on February 24, Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine. Oleksii immediately returned to the army, first joining the 14th Mechanized Brigade, then transferring to the Third Assault Brigade.
Olia Valianik and Oleksii Kushnier. Photo: Angar Charity Foundation
While her husband fought on the front line, Olia turned her theater into something else entirely.
That morning, as the first explosions hit Lutsk, she grabbed her phone and called the founders of Angar, the art space that hosted the Harmyder theater, and asked if she could set up a volunteer headquarters there.
"They said yes immediately," Olia recalls.
The same day, Olia gathered a group of friends and posted on social media: "If you're in Lutsk and want to help, come." By noon, nearly 60 people had shown up — actors, photographers, videographers, and artists. The Angar Charity Foundation was born.
Olia Valianik with the foundation's team. Photo: Angar Charity Foundation
From day one, activists focused on three things:
- Raising money and buying whatever the army needed — body armor, cars, drones, thermal imagers, helmets, everything.
- Coordinating the evacuation of civilians from danger zones.
"We even had a whole team handling requests, matching people with volunteers, or sending cars to get them out," Olia recalls.
- Helping displaced families find shelter, food, and essentials.
"We had an actual list of apartments where we could accommodate people in need," she says.
Foundation employees at work. Photo: Angar Charity Foundation
By 2023, the chaos of the first months of the full-scale war had settled, so the Angar Charity Foundation entirely shifted its focus to military aid, procuring vehicles, drones, and high-tech equipment. The foundation also moved out of the theater, allowing the Angar art space to return to its roots.
Now, Lutsk has two Angars — one supporting the army and one nurturing the city's cultural life, hosting plays, poetry readings, artist talks, and book presentations.
The foundation's team changed, too. At its peak, nearly 100 people worked with Angar. Now, it has a core team of 13, plus 77 volunteers who step in when needed.
One rule has never changed during the three years of the full-scale war: volunteers don't go to the war zones. The foundation uses delivery services to send aid to the front.
"We don't see the point in loading up a truck, wasting fuel, and driving across the country just to deliver a couple of drones and a sack of potatoes that'll probably spoil before anyone eats it," Olia says.
Instead, Angar made the most of every dollar and relied on delivery professionals, saving their resources to support Ukraine's armed forces.
Even more helpful solutions!
The foundation never had to go looking for soldiers in need — Olia's phone had been ringing nonstop since the very first day of Angar. By 2023, the total cost of aid the military requested reached nearly UAH 10 million (over $240,000).
Raising that kind of money was no small task, even with business partnerships. So, the team developed a new idea — the Angar Shell Award. Anyone who donated UAH 10,000 ($240) received this symbolic token of gratitude.
The Angar Shell Award. Photo: Angar Charity Foundation
"We just took that 10 million, divided it into 10,000 chunks, and realized: if 1,000 people donate, we'll hit our goal," Olia explains.
This campaign was aimed at businesses. "How does a small foundation from Lutsk raise 10 million? How?" says the activist.
To spread the word, Angar launched a social media campaign, but what made the biggest impact, Olia says, was word of mouth — business owners sharing the idea with each other.
"It's a way for businesses to step up and become socially responsible," she says.
And it worked — nearly 100 companies united for one common goal.
Olia Valianik at work. Photo: Angar Charity Foundation
Seeing success, the team reran the campaign in 2024, raising the goal to UAH 15 million (over $360,000) with the Angar Shell 2.0. It took six months, but they made it happen.
"Maybe it wasn't fast, but we got there," Olia says.
Olia's husband, Oleksii, also joined the foundation's team. In 2022, his father, Ihor Kushnier, was killed in battle near Bakhmut. After that, Oleksii left the military but couldn't just sit idly by.
"He didn't stop. He started helping veterans, organizing mountain therapy trips for them, all while supporting me with the foundation," Olia shares.
Oleksii came up with another idea — raising money outside churches on Palm Sunday and Easter using donation baskets. It was the right move, Olia says:
"You can't ask for money online only. You have to show up, be there, let people see you, hear you, understand who you really are."
The initiative raised UAH 200,000 (almost $5,000) and allowed people to meet the volunteers face to face.
Easter campaign. Photo: Angar Charity Foundation
Angar also encourages what they call "emotional donations." Some people like to round up their transfers, adding a few extra pennies.
It might seem small, but over time, it adds up. Now, it's become a bit of a competition to see who can push the total higher: "Penny by a penny, there'll be another drone."
Of course, some donations are much bigger. One of the most memorable and the largest ever in the foundation's history was UAH 1 million ($24,081).
"I was pleased to learn that the donation came from ordinary initiative guys from Lutsk who came together and supported the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the volunteer shares.
Even kids get involved, whose support is as valuable as big donations. They carol, sell crafts at school fairs, donate their birthday money, and bring it all to Angar.
Does it really work?
In just three years, the foundation has raised over UAH 100 million (almost $2.5 million) — and that's just the money that officially went through their accounts. They haven't even counted the value of donated goods, which Olia says is enormous.
The foundation's warehouse. Photo: Angar Charity Foundation
"People brought us generators, laptops, drones, whatever they could. If we added it all up, I bet it would be close to a billion," says the Angar Charity Foundation's founder.
Running a fund like this takes money — office space rent, deliveries, staff salaries, marketing — but Angar doesn't use donation money for that. Instead, they have a separate account supported by businesses that donate monthly.
"Of course, we're not as big as other Ukrainian foundations, like the Prytula Foundation or Come Back Alive. But we've grown far beyond just Lutsk. People across Ukraine know us and trust us," says Olia.
A big reason for that growth is the support from businesses. The foundation pays a lot of its attention to business partnerships.
"We work with many socially responsible companies that create special products and donate a percentage of sales to Angar," Olia explains.
For example, the Usual clothing brand from Lutsk collaborated with Angar and released a charity collection, giving all profits to the foundation.
Collaboration with the clothing brand Usual. Photo: Angar Charity Foundation
Local restaurants like Just Sushi and Sushi Kit added charity sushi rolls to their menus and donated 100% of the revenue from orders of those dishes. They even ran social media giveaways where the entry fee was a donation. The Bistro Ottawa donates all proceeds from its Napoleon cakes to Angar.
The Angar activists add snacks to the boxes of equipment they send to soldiers. A longtime partner, Kabanosy Dmytruk, supplies soldiers with meat sausage snacks every month.
"Every month, Dmytruk donates over ten kilograms of nutritious snacks," says Olia. "And it's hilarious when we send soldiers drones and electronic warfare equipment worth millions, and the first thing they thank us for is the sausages and coffee."
As long as the war continues, Angar will keep working.
"We won't stop our cause because our mission is to support Ukraine's defenders," says the founder.
Looking ahead, Olia hopes that one day, the foundation will focus more on helping veterans and their rehabilitation. Their priority is clear for now: Getting soldiers what they need to keep fighting.
