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A nonprofit has been serving tens of thousands of hot meals to Ukrainians who are stuck in Ukraine or who have fled to neighboring countries.
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For over a decade, the World Central Kitchen has provided meals to communities in need in the wake of humanitarian, climate and community crises.
When the conflict began to unfold in Ukraine, World Central Kitchen CEO Nate Mook told Fox News that the organization hit the ground running.
“We were watching as families were fleeing across the border into Poland and other countries,” he said. “And so immediately we activated our team.”
On Friday, the nonprofit, which teamed up with local chefs and restaurants, began serving hot meals at the 24-hour pedestrian border crossing in southern Poland. Since then, they have sent teams to a number of refugee shelters and other border crossings in Romania, Hungary and Moldova.
Mook said the first step was getting his team on the ground, including himself, as quickly as possible.
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“We’ve got meals that are being served throughout the day and all through the night,” he said.
They have already distributed tens of thousands of meals with another 25,000 expected to be delivered on Tuesday, according to Mook.
“We’re just moving as quickly as possible to get as much food to those that need it,” he said.
Mook admitted that it’s already been a pretty daunting journey.
“We’re talking to a lot of Ukrainians and others who are fleeing Ukraine, and they’re traveling for days,” he said.
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Mook said his team met a Ukrainian woman who walked 40 miles just to get to the border of Poland and then waited another 12 hours to cross the border.
In another instance, a young woman from Kyiv had walked two days in order to reach the border into Ukraine without a single hot meal.
“I think pretty much everyone we’ve been meeting has been in a state of shock,” Mook said. “I don’t think anybody really expected it to intensify this quickly or have to just literally run away from their homes, sometimes their families and friends.”
The nonprofit is also working with restaurants in two Ukrainian cities, Odesa and Lviv, to help feed families that haven’t fled.
“We’re just here to cover as many gaps as possible,” he added. “The most important thing is to appeal to folks who really need them right now.”