24.02.2023
'Pack the most necessary things, charge your phones and power banks. Use this map of bomb shelters or come to the club. Together we are strong!' - these were the first words in our work chat on the morning of the 24th February 2022.
At the time, our team consisted of about 200 people. Soon the old brewery, which has withstood two world wars, has turned into a 24/7 shelter, where hundreds of people found refuge from russian shelling until the liberation of the Kyiv region in April 2022. The words 'safer space' have since adopted a new, literal meaning.
In the summer, the club opened its doors again. It was clear to us that people need a space to feel unity, rest from the hard days of volunteering, recharge after returning from the front line, dance to their favorite artists, and, most importantly, live the life that the terrorist state desires to rob them of. Even after shelling by russian missiles. Especially after shelling by russian missiles! When you feel the fragility of life with every cell of your body, the dance floor becomes an extension of your everyday fight for freedom and resistance to the fascist country of russia.
It won’t be an exaggeration to say that this year has transformed every single one of us. Everyone on the dance floor today is a warrior. Here is Katya – she’s a military medic, and has come to Kyiv on her day off. Here is Vlad – he’s a volunteer who works on reconstructing damaged houses. Here is another Vlad – he just returned from a liberated city, where he delivered humanitarian aid. And here are Oleksyi and Sergiy – they both recently got back from Bakhmut – one of them is a journalist working on a video piece about the city, and the other is a soldier on rotation. And, finally, us – the team of ∄. Could we imagine a year ago that we would be buying cars and drones for the army? No. But today we know that this is the least we can do to be standing on the dance floor. We know many who paid the highest price for this – their lives. And we will forever remember them.
Remember the cost of peace and freedom, even if you are lucky enough to live under a peaceful sky. It's likely that someone you once knew personally, perhaps someone you danced with or saw at a show, has made that sacrifice. Make sure that you do everything in your power to sooner bring us to victory. And now, let us honor the memory of all Ukrainians who died in the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine!
Glory to Ukraine!
An update from ∄ Community Fund
22.02.2023
Since the last report on December 20, 2022, we have collected UAH 1,135,779 at the entrance to ∄ community events for the needs of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade "Kholodny Yar", which is currently defending the Bakhmut direction. The donations enabled us to buy, fix and deliver 2 pickup trucks, 1 off-road vehicle, to purchase 6 chainsaws and 60 packs of solidified alcohol.
The list of military brigades and volunteer initiatives that we’ve supported from the ∄ community fund are:
Livyj Bereh - 1000€;
To purchase a pickup car for the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade - 1000€;
To purchase drones for the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigades - 1000€;
For humanitarian aid for the residents of Sloviansk - 1000€;
Donation to the 130th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion for their needs - 1000€;
To purchase a bus for the 49th Infantry Battalion - 1000€;
To purchase winter clothing and Lenovo P11 tablets via volunteer Anastasia Dovganyuk - 1000€;
Hospitaliers medical battalion - 1000€;
Charity Found “Hugs” - 1000€;
To purchase walkie-talkies for the 6th Separate Airmobile Brigade - 1000€;
For humanitarian aid via ICF ‘Compassion’ - 1000€;
Donation to the Ukrainian Volunteer Army for their needs - UAH 25,000;
Donation to the 53rd Mechanized Brigade for their needs - UAH 20,000;
For food for the Kyiv military hospital - UAH 11,000;
Also, 2400€ were sent for supporting artists in need.
Thank you!
Everything will be Ukraine!
💛💙
An update from ∄ Community Fund
20.12.2022
In honor of the club’s third anniversary, together with your help we have collected 917,084 UAH (23461.49€) for purchasing tablets for the 93rd separate mechanized brigade, as well as to support volunteer initiatives in our network with our ∄ Community Fund.
Report:
To purchase 70 tablets for the 93rd separate mechanized brigade "Kholodny Yar" - UAH 444,785 (11,379.84€);
Livyj Bereh - 2000€;
Hospitaliers medical battalion - 1000€;
Kyiv Angels - 1000€;
To purchase winter clothing for a mobile fire group of anti-aircraft missile troops via volunteer Anastasia Dovganyuk - 1000€;
Charity Found “Hugs” - 1000€;
To purchase a small arms equipment for the soldier of an assault group as part of one of the units of the Main Intelligence Directorate - 1,000€;
To purchase a pickup car for the 26th separate artillery brigade - 893€;
To purchase a medical car - 1020€;
To purchase drones for 92 separate mechanized brigades - 893€;
Donation to the special purpose unit of the Main Directorate of Intelligence - 707€;
For humanitarian aid for the residents of Kherson - 450€.
Also, 12000 UAH were sent for supporting artists in need.
Thank you!
Everything will be Ukraine!
💛💙
An update from ∄ Community Fund
07.11.2022
Today is the 257th day of the full-scale war in Ukraine. russia continues massive missile attacks on civilian infrastructure, playgrounds, and residential buildings. Despite russia's constant attempts to demoralize the population, Ukrainians are even more united in the struggle on all fronts: military, informational, cultural, and economic.
We're not standing aside - in addition to our k41community.fund online campaign, this summer we started hosting ∄ Community Events in Kyiv to offer a public space for meetings and talks for our community to stay connected in these, literally and figuratively, dark, times.
During these events in Kyiv, we were able to collect additional donations to specific volunteer initiatives from representatives of our community as well as military units, and have already collected 746,395 UAH to help the Kyiv Angels, Livyj Bereh, Repair Together, Hugs, Kyiv Volunteer, Hospitaliers medical battalion. We were also able to purchase two pickup trucks for the 93 separate mechanized brigade defending the direction of Bakhmut and Soledar.
Thanks to the thousands of people who donate, the ∄ Community Fund continues to support the volunteer initiatives of our community members on a regular basis. We are also grateful to Âme, Norbert Bisky, Jennifer Cardini, Henrik Schwarz, and many more of those who donated the costs for electricity and heating for our winter season and therefore, allow us to continue running our indoor ∄ Community Events for you.
In recent months, we have supported the following initiatives from our network:
Livyj Bereh - 100,000 UAH;
Kayfariks - 80,000 UAH;
Repair Together - UAH 57,000 UAH;
Hugs - 63,000 UAH;
The team of Kashtan and Lypa cafe - 20,000 UAH;
To purchase walkie-talkies for the 109th brigade - 35,000 UAH;
To purchase winter clothing for the special purpose unit of the Main Directorate of Intelligence - 47,000 UAH;
For tactical medicine for the "Hospitaliers" battalion - 37,000 UAH;
Volunteer Anastasia Dovganyuk - 30,000 UAH;
Volunteer Tata Kepler - 30,000 UAH.
Also, 300,000 UAH were sent for direct and quick help to 130 people who contacted us through our help application form.
Unfortunately, the war is still going on, and the amount of aid needed is only increasing. We encourage you to continue supporting us and other initiatives, keep donating, and help us spread this message.
Thank you!
Everything will be Ukraine!
💛💙
∄ Community Fund in media:
Billboard
DW
Mixmag
Tsugi
An update from the K41 Community Fund:
16.06.2022
It has been over 100 days of war in Ukraine. In these three months we, as many other Ukrainians, had to face our greatest challenges as a team and as individuals, while putting our best efforts forward to support and protect our community.
We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has contributed to our cause, be it by donating, raising awareness, helping people affected by the war, or supporting Ukrainian culture.
The support we have received has been overwhelming. So far, we’ve been able to sustain the needs of our community members who are defending Ukraine, volunteering, or whose family and loved ones are at the frontline. The K41 Community Fund helps with purchasing armor, equipment and ammunition for individuals and battalions.
We also have:
- fully financially and operationally supported and organized a 24/7 shelter in Kyiv, which housed and sustained 100 people for 2 months;
- provided financial assistance to cover living/rental costs for people who lost their income due to war;
- financially supported Ukrainian artists, who were not able to make a living due to war;
- provided financial support to cover transportation and living expenses of displaced people;
- provided 11500€ as direct help to 750 people, who reached out to us via the HelpBot.
Since its initiation in March, the K41 Community Fund also continuously supports the following volunteer initiatives by members of our community:
- Help Front UA – an organization purchasing cars for evacuation of people and transportation of humanitarian goods;
- Kyiv Angels – an initiative engaged in delivering humanitarian aid to people in Kyiv and in Ukrainian regions affected by war;
- Art52 cafe – an initiative cooking and delivering food for civilians, military personnel and hospitals, now in collaboration with World Central Kitchen (over 500 meals daily);
- ITshelter – an organization providing food supplies for military and hospitals, helping children and supporting a shelter for displaced people;
Despite all our efforts, the war is not over. russia is commiting inhumane crimes in Ukraine every day: russian soldiers are still raping Ukrainian women and children, murdering Ukrainian people, and destroying Ukrainian cities. We tend to get desensitized to violence very quickly, but we cannot allow this war to become a new mundane reality. Help is still needed.
Sadly, the attention of the world to the war in Ukraine is decreasing, but the suffering of people has only been increasing. Right now, many people are not able to afford rent and food. At the same time, prices are growing due to inflation. The K41 Community Fund continues its work, and we ask you to keep supporting us. Your donations make a real difference. Please keep donating if you can, and help us to share this message.
With donations we receive from now onwards, we will continue supporting various volunteer initiatives, as well as provide support to artists and people from the cultural sector, who are currently in crisis due to the russian military aggression.
Glory to Ukraine!
💛💙
Urgent help for the Ukrainian creative community in need!
09.03.2022
On February 24 russia invaded Ukraine. Since then the Russian military hasn't stopped destroying Ukrainian cities and shattering the lives of millions of people, whose world will never be the same again. During the last two years, we, the ∄ team, have been working on building up a safer space, which has become a place of refuge for thousands of people from all around the world, a place of culture, music and art with the values of love, respect and mutual support at its very core.
In this moment of unprecedented crisis we are doing everything in our power to help members of our community, artists and more than 150 employees of ∄, whose livelihood is in jeopardy: support them financially, help them find a safe place in Ukraine or abroad, help them cross the border, enable them to receive humanitarian, legal and psychological aid.
Today our team is all over Europe: some stayed in Kyiv, some are now in other cities in Ukraine, some have escaped abroad. Regardless of the distance between us, we all keep on working: some of our employees have joined the Territorial Defense Forces, some are volunteering in cities and some are helping from afar. We developed the '∄ Help' telegram bot (@k41_help_bot) aimed to allow our community to reach us with requests regarding evacuation within Ukraine, evacuation abroad, financial support and shelter. We are also working on informing the public about the situation in Ukraine, and communicating with media partners and other institutions.
We sincerely believe that there will soon be a time when we will be able to resume our work. In the meantime, we ask for your help to support our community and ensure that this future is possible.
Aim of this project:
- Support cultural people in need in Kyiv and Ukraine;
- Organizing transport within Ukraine and abroad (cars, trains, buses);
- Organizing shelters;
- Facilitating jobs in the EU;
- Organizing housing;
- Psychological help;
- Financial support;
- Structuring vitally important information.
About this project:
A project initiated by the team of the Kyiv based cultural institution ∄ with the aim to provide financial, humanitarian and logistical support to the musical and cultural community that has been facing life-threatening challenges since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
About ∄:
∄ is a Kyiv based cultural institution and safer space founded in November 2019. ∄ organizes a variety of cultural, artistic and educational events (parties, concerts, exhibitions, public panels, lectures, etc). ∄ is located in an old brewery building at the address Kyrylivska St, 41. ∄ consists of a club space, a concert hall, a gallery space and a public lecture space, which also hosts a music school, Module Exchange.
Side projects:
Standard Deviation
Multidisciplinary label working on the intersection of music, art, and publishing, aiming to foster collaborative exchange between an aspiring Ukrainian scene and the global community.
ХІТЬ
A new queer multi-event format which takes place on Fridays on a seasonal basis at ∄.
STANDARD DEVIATION x MYSTICTRAX – РАЗОМ ЗА УКРАЇНУ / TOGETHER FOR UKRAINE
Standard Deviation has joined forces with Mystictrax —a Ukrainian label run by Lostlojic, for our most important release: РАЗОМ ЗА УКРАЇНУ / TOGETHER FOR UKRAINE — a compilation by 65 Ukrainian and International artists to be sold exclusively via Bandcamp.
Bandcamp link https://standard-deviation.bandcamp.com/album/together-for-ukraine
About our cooperation with FONDAMENT:
Together with the organization FONDAMENT, we have set up a protection fund to help people in need and on the run. FONDAMENT is a German non-profit GmbH that pursues exclusively and directly non-profit and charitable purposes, i.e. FONDAMENT is selfless and does not pursue any commercial purposes. The donations collected should go exactly where they are most needed.
You can donate to FONDAMENT directly:
FONDAMENT gGmbH
IBAN: DE04430609671239646002
GLS Bank