Nova Ukraine, one of the largest US charities providing humanitarian aid to the country, also participated. Its chief executive officer, Ambassador Erin McKee, told RFE/RL that its goal was to highlight urgent winter needs on the ground — ranging from basic humanitarian assistance to amplifying the voices of children, teachers, and doctors living through the conflict every day. Since 2014, the organization says, it has disbursed approximately $150 million in assistance.
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From Eco Picnic to Eco Film Festival
With Nova Ukraine’s support for the second year in a row, Ukrainian nonprofit Chysto.De?!—whose name translates as “Clean.Where?!”—is expanding environmental education and creating new opportunities for Ukrainian eco-cinema. At this year’s ECO FILM FESTIVAL, organized by Chysto.De?! on August 15–16 at MC6 Creative Residence in Slavske, visitors watched Ukrainian and international environmental documentaries, attended lectures and public discussions, joined hands-on workshops, and explored a market of sustainable local crafts. Children and teenagers spent the weekend learning the basics of documentary storytelling, filming nature around them, experimenting with stop-motion animation, and presenting their own short films at the closing ceremony. For Nova Ukraine project manager Yevheniya Chuchko, it was the part of the festival that stayed with her most.