When Hands Do the Work
How Volia Fund Turns Resolve into Lifesaving Impact
On February 24, 2022, everything changed.
For Oksana Mandryka, it changed with a text message from her sister in Kyiv — hiding in a parking garage with her young daughter as air-raid sirens echoed above them. Shock came first. Then guilt. Guilt for being safe while her family was under fire.
She decided she would not stand still.
Her first fundraiser was simple: body armor and thermal imagers for friends who had just joined the Ukrainian army. It started small — urgent messages, trusted contacts, clear needs. But when people understand the human story behind a request, they show up.
Soon, one campaign led to another. Then to vehicles. Then to large-scale logistics. At one point, a unit requested a 15-ton logistics truck — far beyond anything she had imagined organizing.
"There’s a Ukrainian saying,” Oksana recalls. "Your eyes are scared, but your hands still do the work."
That became the spirit of Volia.
From One Fundraiser to $2.1 Million in Aid
Since March 2022, Volia Fund donors — together with partners — have delivered more than $2.1 million in direct support to Ukraine’s defenders.
That impact includes:
- 96 vehicles
- 112 drones
- 209 radios
- 29 Starlinks
- 92 electronic warfare systems
- 56 generators
- and hundreds of additional critical tools
Each number represents something real: a life protected, a rescue completed, a mission made possible.
Transparency is at the core of this work. Every purchase is documented. Every delivery is verified. Trust is not assumed — it is earned and sustained.
And every contribution matters:
- $25 buys chemical foot warmers during freezing February nights
- $375 funds a drone detection device that warns of incoming threatsnds
- $500 keeps a vehicle on the road with winter tires
For the people receiving this support, it is not abstract. It means staying alive.
Driving Hope Home
Vehicles That Save Lives
For Tung Fam, this mission is deeply personal.
Born in Ukraine to a Vietnamese family, Tung has always called Ukraine home. When the full-scale invasion began, he was abroad — but distance did not erase responsibility.
“If I were still in Ukraine, I would have been drafted,” he says. “From abroad, I had to find another way to serve.”
He began organizing small fundraisers among friends, turning small campaigns into steady support. In 2024, Tung joined forces with Volia Fund, helping build a Europe-based operation focused on delivering evacuation vehicles to Ukraine.
Each vehicle begins with a request from a frontline unit. Reliable vehicles are sourced across Europe, documented, equipped, and transported across the border. Once inside Ukraine, volunteers ensure final delivery and necessary repairs so each vehicle reaches the soldiers who need it most.
Today, the vehicle pipeline runs efficiently and transparently.
Beyond vehicles, Tung’s efforts have supported the delivery of drones, radios, anti-drone equipment, tactical medicine, batteries, power generators, Starlink communication kits, and laptops — tools that directly impact rescue, communication, and survival.
Some outcomes remain unseen. Others are immediate. In one case, a provided drone guided an evacuation under fire, helping save multiple lives.
Impact Since February 2024
- 21 evacuation and support vehicles
- 45 drones
- 54 radios
- 83 batteries
- 15 drone jammers
- 172 tourniquets
- 39 power generators and stations
- 35 Starlink kits
- 13 laptops, tablets, and monitors
This Is Not a Sprint
As Tung says, “It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon.”The needs continue. The requests keep coming. The challenge now is not how to work — it is how to sustain the pace.
Stand With Us
Help us put the next vehicle on the road.
Help us deliver the next lifesaving tool.
Help us keep going.