Volunteer help in one click
IT ClusterUkrainian volunteers help hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians every day. The contribution of organizations and individuals is hard to put into words. Each of them has already become a hero for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people!
The events of the morning of February 24 changed the plans of all Ukrainians without exception. Thousands of people began to need help and support: crossing the border, finding housing, evacuating, receiving humanitarian aid, etc. Many Ukrainians have experience of receiving help from volunteers.
Kharkiv IT Cluster joined the ranks of volunteers from the first day of the full-scale invasion and has been helping and supporting everyone in need.
«From day one, we have been engaging community members and our international partners to support Kharkiv residents and the city. We coordinated people so that they could safely evacuate with their families, transferred Starlink to companies so that they could continue to work despite the damage to critical infrastructure, and coordinated humanitarian aid for the city’s residents,» comments Olga Shapoval, Executive Director of Kharkiv IT Cluster.
Among the community’s volunteer cases is assistance to the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration. After a missile strike on March 1, 2022, the employees of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration lost their jobs and the city lost its building. Therefore, through the joint efforts of the Kharkiv IT Cluster community, employees of the Kharkiv regional administration were provided with the necessary furniture and equipment for work.
The specialists of many Kharkiv IT Cluster companies manage not only to write code but also to order bulletproof vests for the military, not only to perform wheelbarrows but also to deliver humanitarian aid, and in addition to work sprints, they close multi-million dollar fundraisers.
How did it all start?
Each of us continues to do our job today: responding to the needs of Kharkiv citizens, our military, and the city, despite all the challenges. One of them is the lack of a single communication channel between people and volunteers. Because of this, some people are still forced to deal with their problems one-on-one. To fix this and improve communication between citizens, volunteers, and organizations, a group of enterprising students has developed a unique Volunteer app.
The creation of Volunteers dates back to October 2022, when Kharkiv IT Cluster, KTU IT STEP, and Odesa IT Family joined forces to organize the online hackathon HACK4UA.
The event was dedicated to the problems of Ukrainian refugees and IDPs and aimed to create mobile applications and online tools that could improve their lives.
The authors of the idea for the Volunteer app, the team.getName() team, presented by students of the National University of “OP”, competed with other 19 projects and initiatives, but it was their project that was recognized by the jury and highly praised according to the following criteria:
📌 Problems (solution of the tasks, impact of the solution on the target audience)
📌 Technology (innovation of the solution: how unique the project is, availability of innovative technology)
📌 Business (feasibility of implementing the solution, budget and scalability)
📌 Team (composition, competencies, distribution of functional responsibilities)
📌 Project presentation (ability to present and promote your solution)
Recently, the authors of the Volunteer idea presented the first prototype of the service.
Volunteer organizations are already able to join the project and help people solve their issues with housing, clothing, or other necessary resources. All you need to do is register here.
Convenience of the app
Anyone who needs help will receive it regardless of their location. Thanks to the interactive «Help Map», you can find the nearest volunteer center that will help you solve any need: heat, charging devices, housing, clothing.
Volunteera contains all the relevant and necessary information: work schedule, and contacts, so you don’t have to stand in lines to get help from volunteers as soon as possible. All you need to do is write a message or call the number listed.
From now on, all the necessary contacts, upcoming appointments, and records will always be at your fingertips. They are stored in one place — your personal account.
We continue to stand together and bring our Victory closer by our joint efforts! Kharkiv IT Cluster invites everyone who cares to join the charitable initiatives of the IT4Life Foundation and companies to become part of a progressive community that drives Ukrainian IT and implements top solutions for the community.
