In 2017, 138.8 tons of items were transferred to volunteer organizations that care for the most socially vulnerable citizens. This is 37 tons more than was collected in the previous year.
Items are collected in special containers that have been installed at 16 OKKO gas stations in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, and Kharkiv. In the near future, 2 more such containers will appear in Vinnytsia. Every caring Ukrainian, stopping by to refuel or grab a bite at one of these gas stations, can leave clothes, shoes, and household items that they no longer need but could still serve others. See the full list of gas stations with collection containers here.
“We are sincerely grateful to everyone who shared a piece of their well-being with those fellow citizens who have found themselves in difficult life circumstances. Thanks to the joint efforts of the OKKO network, our customers, and volunteer organizations, thousands of people have not only received material aid but also felt that their fate is not indifferent to other Ukrainians,” says Anna Tykhovska, sustainable development manager of the OKKO network.
The project to collect used items for the underprivileged has been implemented by the OKKO gas station network for 5 consecutive years together with volunteer organizations that pick up items from containers, sort them, and distribute them among the homeless, internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, hospices, orphanages, and geriatric care facilities. OKKO's partners in this project are the following charitable foundations and public organizations: in Kyiv – “Ukraine Without Borders”, in Lviv – “Emmaus-Oselia”, in Odesa – “Good Samaritan”, in Dnipro – “We Help”, in Kharkiv – “Caritas Ukraine”.
Every visitor to OKKO gas stations can show charity and become a participant in a good deed. While going through your seasonal wardrobe, renovating your apartment, or simply tidying up your closet, you can always find items that seem unnecessary to you but are still usable. Just throw them in the car and, at the nearest opportunity, leave them in a special container at an OKKO gas station.
