Assistance for IDPs: cooking for 400 people
“There is no such a thing as another’s misfortune” is a slogan that the university staff have always followed. It proved this clearly in 2014 when it accommodated the temporary internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk regions and created the conditions for the two structural units of Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University.
After russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the rector, university administration, accounting staff and other administrative units have moved from Starobilsk to PUET as early as February 25. And then there were the IDPs from Sumy, Okhtyrka, Trostianets, Kharkiv and other places of Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions. During the first two weeks of the war more than 2,000 IDPs took shelter in the university dormitories for a period of one to three days. Most of them were going further afield, to Western Ukraine. By early March, around 200 mostly elderly people and mothers with children had decided to stay in the dormitories of PUET until they had a chance to return to their homes. We were realizing that the food packages provided by our volunteers were not enough.
In this regard, the university administration has decided to organize a permanent warm meal for the IDPs. The university canteen has all the technological conditions for this, and the laboratories of the educational program “Food Technology and Engineering” are equipped with the modern cookers, ovens and convection steamers. But the main thing is that the university administration’s decision has echoed in the hearts of the staff and students of the university. They were led by Valentyna Pavlivna Soloviova, an experienced specialist in the culinary arts. She was joined by teachers and laboratory assistants from the departments of Food Technology and Hotel and Restaurant Management: Y. Levchenko, O. Horobets, A. Heredchuk, I. Choni, S. Medvedieva, S. Lvova, V. Honcharenko, N. Slymak, O. Khodos, V. Stoliarchuk, L. Polozhyshnykova and O. Volodko.
Valentyna Pavlovna tells with special feelings about the students’ volunteer team and mentions the following names: O. Vakulenko, V. Serhieieva, K. Kravtsova, O. Poshyvailo, V. Bezotosnyi, B. Tarasiuk, A. Hakhramanova…
During the conversation, she constantly gives technological instructions. And then she apologises if she didn’t mention someone. She also thanks everyone for their patriotic position, their thoughtfulness and their willingness to come to their front every day to work for Ukraine.
Moreover, every day the words of gratitude are heard from almost 400 IDPs, who not only praise the friendly staff for the traditionally delicious dishes, but also note their diversity.
The university administration would also like to express sincere gratitude. In particular, thanks to those benefactors, because of whom now we have not only cereals and stew, but also meat and pasta, sausages and other sausage products, oil, flour, potatoes, carrots, beetroot, sometimes even fish, etc. Some people brought everything what they had, others transferred money to purchase food, and transferred not only from Ukraine, but also from the US, Germany and Great Britain. After our common victory, the name of each of them will be announced!
