History of the creation of the Yuri Yerinyak HEARTS Foundation

«In life, it is very important not to forget the commandment, that my mother taught me: the more you give, the more you’ll have. Do good and it will return to you a hundredfold,» Yuri Yerinyak.

Yuri Yerinyak Charitable foundation HEARTS was created, during perhaps one of the most difficult stages in the history of independent Ukraine. The war, the ensuing socio-economic crisis, the fall in GDP and exports from Ukraine, the depreciation of the Hryvnia and huge inflation significantly increased the number of people living on the verge of poverty. According to Yuri, it is precisely at such moments that the social responsibility of those people, who can at least somehow help those in need, should be manifested. The decision was made without hesitation: a new charitable foundation should be a support for those, who got into trouble in these difficult times.

Where does the name of the HEARTS Foundation derive from?

Yuri Yerinyak loves children very much. He is the father of three sons and two daughters. Doing everything possible for them, he often says the phrase «pass the children through the heart.» When the idea to create a fund came up, he and his wife Marina Yerinyak thought that with the help of the fund they could give a piece of goodness and warmth from their hearts to the hearts of children deprived of fate. And so the name of the foundation was born — HEARTS.

The fund is involved in the following areas:

• Help to all disadvantaged from the consequences of the war in the Donbass; • Assistance to orphanages and youth centers; • Assistance to children’s medical facilities; • Assistance to church; • Support for sports in Ukraine; • Commitment to family values; • Support for ATO soldiers.

2014 – War in the Donbass and assistance to the disadvantaged

Immediately after the creation of the foundation, Yuriy Yerinyak actively joined the program of assistance to those people and especially children, who suffered from military operations in the east of Ukraine. One of the most important projects of the foundation during this period was the export of about 1200 sick and orphaned children from the frontline zone to Kiev. Also, a few years later, the foundation organized in Kyiv games and other entertainments and gave presents to the children from Donnas region. The foundation supports on an ongoing basis ten families from the Donetsk region, providing them with food, baby items, and hygiene products. The Foundation also arranges charity events for various holidays, such as: St. Nicholas Day, Christmas, Easter. The Yuri Yerinyak Charitable Foundation HEARTS together with the Community of St. Aegidius took under their patronage charity dinners for disadvantaged people.

Yuri and Marina Yerinyak in Kiev during a holiday for internally displaced children

The famous writer, founder and president of the «Christian Bridge» and «Spiritual Diplomacy» organizations, Honorary Consul of Belarus in the USA Mikhail Morgulis wrote about Yuri Yerinyak and this period of the HEARTS Foundation in his book « One-on-One with Life». «Yuri Yerinyak and his dear wife Marina help build churches, deliver food to areas on the border with Donbass destroyed by war … When it was necessary to drive away to safety several dying children, he provided me with a car with bullet-proof glass. He said «It will not save from fate, but can help.» Another time, we evacuated 1200 sick and orphaned children from the border regions of Donbass and Lugansk. In Kiev, they arranged a concert, games and treats…» writes the author in his book.

Yuri Yerinyak, Marina Yerinyak and Mikhail Morgulis

At the time, when the idea arose to create a HEARTS Foundation in order to help children with disabilities, no one could have imagined how many deprived and needy children with serious illnesses and those, who were forced to relocate because of the war in the Donbass, are there in our country. Their number is huge, it amounts to hundreds of thousands, and even millions. But nobody was going to give up, there was a clear understanding that even more needs to be done.

Foundation assistance to orphanages and youth centers

«Helping children is everyone’s duty to God and to themselves» – Yuri Yerinyak.

After 2014, the foundation begins to work even more actively: assistance to orphanages, orphans, and children with disabilities. This work is actively ongoing to this day. At the moment, the fund has already taken under its guardianship about 230 children, of whom about 80 are seriously ill. It provides all kinds of assistance to orphanages, the number of which has already reached 11.

HEARTS has organized trip to Israel for the «Alpha and Omega» Youth Christian Center, as well as a trip to the sea for orphans with disabilities

The level of gratitude of children and teachers was incredibly high, most of the children traveled abroad for the first time in their life and were able to see the Holy Land, a place where everything shows the greatness of God. In turn, Yuri Yerinyak, who does not like to talk a lot about his charitable activities, believes that he did nothing special, because, in his opinion, «helping children is every person’s duty to God and to himself.»

Assistance to children’s medical facilities

«Children is our future. And we must support this future from the first days» , – «Children is our future. And we must support this future from the first days,» Yuri Yerinyak.

Thanks to the foundation, maternity hospital No. 4 in Kiev received a device for artificial ventilation of lungs. This device is designed to help children, who themselves can not do this, take a first breath. There were no budget money allocated for this, so doctors were forced to turn to charity funds for help.

Foundation Director Marina Yerinyak in the maternity hospital on the day of the device delivery.

Assistance to church

In 2015, Yuri Yerinyak decided to rebuild the Church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother, destroyed in 1935. Since then, it has become his life’s work. The construction of the temple is actively ongoing to this day. On May 6, 2018, His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Onufriy consecrated dome crosses for the church under construction.

Sport as an integral part of the charity of Yuri Yerinyak

One of the key activities of the fund is the support of sport in Ukraine. The main inspirer of Yuri Yerinyak in this direction is our young Ukrainian athlete, workout champion Nicole Knyazeva. In his few interviews, Yuri repeatedly spoke of admiration for this young athlete, her records, her incredible strength and energy, and once even promised to fulfill her any desire. Supply of sports clubs with equipment, assistance in organizing sports events – all this is done today by the Yuri Yerinyak HEARTS Foundation.

Yuri Yerinyak and Nicole Knyazeva

Commitment to family values

«I urge everyone, who is not indifferent to domestic violence, to support the White Ribbon. I made this decision for myself, since the worst thing that can happen in a family is violence, cruel treatment of women and children» , – Yuri Erinyak.

Together with Nicole, the foundation supported the White Ribbon campaign in Ukraine. Wearing a white ribbon expresses “personal oath, to never commit, justify or suppress violence against women and girls.” A strong family is the basis of a strong and independent state. The fight against violence is now most relevant, given the number of families that went through the war and know firsthand the horror that it is sowing.

Support for ATO soldiers

«It is a great pleasure to realize, that I can make life easier for at least one person. And, of course, it’s a great joy for me, if I can help several people», – Yuri Yerinyak.

The activities of the foundation are not limited only to helping children and developing sports. Assistance to ATO soldiers is the most important area of the foundation’s work. Unfortunately, our government is doing not enough to implement assistance programs for those people, who have returned from the ATO zone. Therefore, civil society should do everything for the social adaptation of returning soldiers and help them find themselves in peaceful life. This is an acute question and in no case should one turn a blind eye on it.

Recently, the foundation acquired and transferred to the Kiev Military Hospital a unique instrument for ultrasonic cavitation, created by German specialists. This tool recognizes non-viable cells after gunshot wounds, burns and purulent necrotic lesions that need to be removed. Now this duty is assigned not to the surgeon’s eye, but to the error-free operation of the technique. That allows accelerating not only operative treatment but also further rehabilitation while maintaining healthy tissues.

The number of people requiring help is growing every day

«I want to urge all successful, active citizens to take part in such organizations, because this is the key to the better welfare of all Ukrainians!» – Yuriy Yerinyak.

It is worth noting that all of the above has been done so far thanks to the personal funds of Yuri Yerinyak. But this is only the beginning, because we plan to reach a new level and expand foundation activities: holding charity auctions and other fundraising events. Also, the fund is always open to everyone who wants to help people, and it does not have to be just financial assistance, you can always get a list of who needs what. That is why it is so important that no one stands on the side of all the problems that exist in our country. Helping even one person can make this world a little better. As Yuri Yerinyak himself said, “Doing good deeds is not so difficult, just try and I’m sure you will like it.”