February 24: Avenga’s two years of unconditional support of Ukraine

The second year of the full-scale invasion demonstrated how strong Ukrainians are in their unity in the face of Russian aggression. Being a global engineering platform, Avenga continually supports local communities, especially in their struggle for a democratic and independent world. Over the past year, our company and Avenga’s specialists undertook different actions to help Ukraine stay strong.

Defenders Support Program

First and foremost, Avenga takes care of its specialists who defend us in times of war. To do so, we’ve launched the Defenders Support Program – a comprehensive set of actions and benefits to back our mobilized teammates and their families. Our main goal is to ensure our defenders receive the help and resources they need and deserve.

The Program assists in different ways: mobilization, financial and military provisions, legal support, medical treatment, rehabilitation and psychological aid, and reintegration.

We are grateful to our partners – Veteran Hub and Moye Kolo, for their professionalism and comprehensive approach to developing this Program with us. 

Support for Unbroken National Rehabilitation Center

Avenga became one of the first to join an extensive fundraising campaign for the Unbroken Kids Rehabilitation Center, donating over $25,000 to help them reach the target of $100,000 for advanced equipment, renovation of the premises, and, of course, the development of prosthetics. The center was opened at the St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital in Lviv. It helps young Ukrainians who were traumatized by the war and need physical and mental rehabilitation. Over the past year, this institution has helped over 60,000 children from all over Ukraine.

During the second year of full-scale invasion, we organized charity events and consistently contributed funds to Unbroken. An online discussion panel about ChatGPT and AI in Salesforce, which Avenga organized in collaboration with external IT experts, helped raise around $1,000. To mark International Children’s Day, we opened the Avenga Charity Store for the third time. Here, every specialist could buy branded items by making a charitable contribution to the fund. Through the store, we raised over $1,500.

Volunteering initiatives

Avenga people persist in volunteering across all our locations. A notable example is our colleagues from the Lutsk office, who manufactured and delivered over 3,000 trench candles, 28 camouflage nets, more than 50 kg of vitamin sets, and 500 boxes of a quick snack.

We always monitor and prioritize our activities. For example, if there is no demand for food and candles, we focus on weaving camouflage nets. Anyone can join us after working hours. For example, I come with my family almost every evening for 2-3 hours.

Anatolii Gurskyi
Senior Java Engineer at Avenga

We proudly share stories about our specialists, who unite others around volunteer initiatives and launch their own charitable funds to provide comprehensive support for defenders in various areas. For instance, Bohdan Romanko, Senior UX/UI Designer at Avenga, and his wife are co-founders of UAID foundation – an association of volunteers who supported Ukrainian heroes from the first days of the full-scale Russian attack.

Volunteering helped me pull myself together and take my mind off the sudden nightmare that had begun. I wanted to help in some way. I’m far from being a good warrior. However, going to work and paying taxes didn’t seem enough to me. The phrase ‘everyone should just do their own job well’ sounded like an excuse to me. You must do your job well – it’s as clear as day. But when there is a war going on, you should make some extra effort. I felt it was necessary to volunteer. We are one big family. Unlike our enemy, our army, nation, and state are one.

Bohdan Romanko
Senior UX/UI Designer at Avenga

Victory Gardens

The roots of Victory Gardens date back to World Wars I and II and originated in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Canada, and the United States. People planted vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens at their homes, balconies, or yards, using every available space for planting. These gardens helped countries survive the most difficult times and boosted the citizens’ spirits.

Last year, we supported the Avenga people and relaunched the all-Ukrainian “Victory Gardens” initiative by sending our colleagues special gardening kits.

Avenga Charity Day

In October 2023, Avenga had a marathon of charity events. Our people had the opportunity to buy a face-to-face charitable meeting with Avenga managers, compete for unique lots at the charity auction, buy branded souvenirs by making a donation at the Avenga Charity Store, and find cool stuff on the “garage sale” in our Lviv, Poltava, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Khmelnytskyi offices.

Through the Charity Store, Charity Day, and online auctions, our colleagues raised nearly $10,000. These funds enabled us to swiftly address the urgent needs of our co-workers on the front line and their units.

Cooperation with the Lviv IT Cluster

The unity of the IT community couldn’t be overrated, especially with partners like the Lviv IT Cluster. Over the past two years, we have backed Victory projects by IT Cluster – a series of initiatives aimed at supporting local businesses, the Ukrainian defenders, critical infrastructure, and strengthening the Lviv region’s security. The Lviv IT Cluster community donated nearly $3 million to the Victory projects. We are also contributors to the Vision project – a video surveillance system in the Lviv region that enhances law enforcement and strengthens defense. Additionally, we support the renovation of the Mental Health Center for children, offering free professional assistance to Ukrainian kids from psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and psychologists.

Support for I’Mariupol centers

Due to the war, hundreds of thousands of Mariupol residents became internally displaced people. Currently, the I’Mariupol center in Lviv supports more than 3,900 of them, with almost 600 children among them.

At the beginning of 2024, Avenga joined forces with I’Mariupol centers to collect footwear, clothes, and other relief supplies, delivering them to the center for the citizens of Mariupol.

Blood donation

Donating blood is a simple and powerful way to save someone’s life, especially in times when Ukrainian people in both rear cities and on the front line are suffering from injuries, and the demand for donor blood is critically high.

In February 2024, Avenga organized Donor Day in Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk offices. More than 60 specialists joined the donor community, donating their blood for important causes. Donor Day was organized together with the Blood Agents NGO, the Lviv Regional Centre of Blood Service, and the Precarpathian Regional Blood Service Center.

Support for Children of Heroes Foundation

War forces Ukrainian children to grow up quickly, robbing them of their childhood every day. At Avenga, we believe that caring about kids is caring about a bright future. That’s why we support Children of Heroes – a charity foundation that cares for children who lost their parents as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The organization provides long-term support to cover not only basic needs but also helps children find their way in life. The non-profit organization Avenga hilft e.V. donated $20,000 for kids’ medical insurance, fully covering surgeries and a wide range of medical treatments.

We remain steadfast in our commitment to the Ukrainian people and especially to our colleagues, who defend democracy in the country. Avenga continues to stand by Ukraine and supports efforts for peace and independence in the region. We supported more than 10 initiatives from our colleagues and external organizations and are ready to do even more. So, if you have a project and need our support, let us know.