If you want peace, prepare for war.
Even the ancient Romans said: “If you want peace, prepare for war.” The ancient proverb has not lost its meaning to this day: when the country has been under the threat of enemy expansion for six months in a row, any methods to prevent bloodshed are relevant and necessary. The Khmelnytskyi Charitable Foundation “Hesed Besht” has always defended the positions of peace and goodness. The organization followed its humanitarian mission both in peacetime and when the state was shaken by the events of the Revolution of Dignity. The Foundation, together with other volunteers, provided assistance to those injured in clashes and assisted in petitions for the treatment of the wounded abroad, including in Israel. However, the unrest in the East prompted the volunteers of the Khmelnytskyi Charitable Foundation “Hesed Besht” to resort to new forms of assistance to citizens and the state.
At the end of the summer, volunteers from the Hesed Besht Civil Defense Fund took part in a project to organize military equipment for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The details of this “operation”, as well as the actual combat mission, cannot be disclosed, since the work was carried out in a closed military unit near one of the district centers of the Khmelnytskyi region. It is worth noting that the unit’s leadership gladly accepted the volunteers’ offer of assistance and allowed civilians to stay in clearly designated places where military equipment was stored.
The volunteers of the Hesed Besht Civil Defense Fund are ordinary people who do not know how to repair armored vehicles or military affairs. According to their beliefs, they cannot harm others or create conditions in which people will suffer. Therefore, the volunteer assistance was neutral in nature: the volunteers cleaned rust and painted light armored vehicles. In fact, this process is very important, since cleaning parts from rust extends the service life of mechanisms, making them suitable for use. Painting in protective colors reduces the likelihood of an armored vehicle being detected by the enemy, and this is an additional opportunity to save someone's life. The volunteers purchased paint, technical cleaning tools, such as sandpaper, metal brushes and tool attachments, on their own, using charitable funds.
In four days of hard work, the Foundation's volunteers restored four armored vehicles, which can be sent to the ATO Zone upon order. According to the beliefs of people who agree with the opinion of the military with whom the volunteers worked at the facility, it would be better for these vehicles to rust forever in garages and never be used for war. However, if there is a need for this equipment, then our common goal is to bring it to the right place, so that at the decisive moment strong armor will save our soldiers from enemy bullets.
The Khmelnytskyi Charitable Foundation "Hesed Besht" will continue to stand for peace. But if peace needs our help, volunteers and those who care will do everything possible to preserve it for all people in Ukraine and around the world.
