06 July 2025 – Sunflower Scotland donated jeans to 130 orphan kids in foster care, in a small town in the north Kharkiv region. For kids, jeans are very necessary. Some families look after 8 – 10 kids, and the cost is quite high: more than they can afford. This is practical help, based on the real need. We bought jeans for every child’s exact size. We bought new jeans locally in Kharkiv at wholesale prices: cheaper than shipping second-hand clothing from the UK.
Many orphans have disabilities
During the war, foster parents are doing their best to raise orphan children despite the horror. These are vulnerable children: orphans, many have disabilities and a history of abuse, home violence and suffering. Foster families give them a second chance for happiness.
We don’t think about it, but what type of children get abandoned and become orphans? Some have mothers with a history of alcoholism. They abandon their babies or die from poor health. Another typical example is abusive parents, when the state intervenes to save the child. Because of that, kids have bad health, malnutrition, mental illness, etc. etc.
In short: most orphan kids have suffered a lot already at a very young age. And now, they have to live through a war. In the north Kharkiv region, where missiles and killer drones kill civilians every day.
How can we not help them?
Why jeans?
In Krasnokutsk – a small town 25 miles from the Russian armies – all families struggle financially and need help. Why jeans? Because children grow fast and families struggle financially to provide new clothes for everyone.
Before we supported these families with washing powder, shampoo etc. We speak with those foster families and we know what their pain points are. What they need.
If you want to provide real help, please speak the person you are helping. It’s just impossible to send stull from the UK not knowing who needs what.
Help Ukraine: buy in Ukraine
Sunflower buys humanitarian aid in bulk saving a lot of money. We bought jeans from several wholesale suppliers. We decided to buy each child a pair, of exactly their size. It’s hard to find 130 different sizes from just one supplier.
We bough new, high-quality jeans.
Each pair cost is 200-400 hryvnia (£4-8), roughly 50% cheaper than retail price. The difference in price is because some children are quite small, while others were teenagers, and they wear adult sizes.
It is possible to buy cheap jeans in the UK for £7-10 at discount shops. But (a) add the cost of shipping to Ukraine (b) finding all sizes for 130 kids at a sale / discount store is impossible.
But most importantly, by buying locally we are supporting the local businesses and Ukraine’s economy.
Meeting of good friends
We loaded our van and went to Krasnokutsk. This was a fun and joyful day for children and for the Sunflower team as well. Vitaliy and Oleg distributed jeans, and Stevie sat enjoying the weather and drinking Red Bull.
Some children brought wild flowers and pancakes to welcome and thank our Scottish team. We had such a wonderful time together!
Thank YOU – we are truly grateful
We are eternally grateful to all our donors who help us to help the most vulnerable people in Ukraine. Thank you!!!
We are thankful for our team of Scottish and Ukrainian volunteers, for risking their lives to help the children, and not asking for anything in return.
If you think what we do makes sense, and if you can support Ukraine and our work on the ground, please donate.
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