The heat is pouring from the sky. The weather in Ukraine today bears no resemblance to that which accompanied the first rockets fired towards Kiev in the early morning of February the 24th. The weather has changed, the mood is changing. Life goes on. It must go on. In the stillness, as if beyond time, stand buildings torn apart by bombs and cars consumed by fire. Frozen in the most horrific moment, they still bring back the dramatic moments of families fleeing in cars filled with their belongings. The bodies are no longer there. They have been buried, but the broken china, children’s shoes and bicycles, are still there. The pain remains.

No one should be in any doubt any more about what is currently happening. How cruelly, disregarding all rules (if war can have any rules), Russia has invaded Ukraine. The latter is celebrating its independence today, which, ironically, coincides with six months of fighting. We must not forget today those for whom the attacks stopped time, took away hope, possessions, lives. Nor can we forget those for whom this tragedy is still ongoing. They are there, and although we have all grown accustomed to war at our neighbours’, we cannot consider it normal. We cannot turn our heads, lower the blinds and drown out the injustice that is happening outside the walls.

The Good Factory has been with those most in need since the first hours of the war. At the beginning, we ourselves did not know what to get hold of and who needed it most. We set off to the border to find out. For the first weeks we fed and gave warmth to those fleeing the war. Sometimes we were simply with them, standing in line on those frostiest nights to cross to the Polish side of the border. Later, we listened to the needs of those left behind in Kiev, Lugansk, Mykolayiv, Slavutych, Lubny, Chernikhov, Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Kharkiv and Odessa.

Thanks to you, we can respond to requests for help. We are constantly in the process of receiving, packing and shipping. Several large shipments, tens of tonnes of basic necessities: food products, diapers, children’s clothes, cleaning products, blankets, torches, powerbanks. The hospitals in Odessa and Kramatorsk received surgical equipment, an electrocoagulator, an infusion pump, portable ultrasound, an X-ray machine and an artificial kidney for the children’s ward. We have already rebuilt hope and a sense of security with a sum of over PLN 1,000,000.

Thank you for producing good with us! If there is anything else we can ask of you, please give us a high-five! It is largely thanks to your fives that we have always been ready to help in places where a crisis has suddenly arisen. We are not asking for something that will put a significant strain on your budget. Even an amount as small as PLN 5, but donated to us regularly, once a week, allows every high-fiver to give very concrete help where it is needed most! We can see how much our high-fives budget has shrunk. Today we urgently need your decision to help us rebuild it!