Intimate holidays? This will be the first Christmas since the outbreak of the Ukrainian-Russian armed conflict. The war crisis unfolding in our neighboring country is placing a huge burden on our nation’s economy, but it is also putting families with average incomes in an increasingly difficult situation. For 30 years, the Krishna Devotees’ Food for Life Foundation has been helping families and seniors in need through its food distributions, and it continues to serve the public today.

The foundation’s volunteer devotees of Krishna have seen a great deal; they have been to Sri Lanka after the tsunami, to Haiti following the earthquake, and to areas affected by floods in Hungary and Bosnia, as well as to sites of landslides and the mudslide disaster. In recent years, their primary mission has been to maintain food distributions for those with special needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and to assist Ukrainian refugees. We spoke with Attila Szanyi-Karl, the foundation’s director, about current challenges and plans.

„First, the Indian Embassy contacted us to ask for our help in evacuating nearly 10,000 university students studying in Ukraine by providing them with hot meals.” They were provided with temporary lodging in our country for no more than one night at a time until the chartered passenger planes arrived to pick them up. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also praised the work of Food for Life during a joint Zoom meeting.

„The campaign highlighted that, How important it is for us, as professionals, to understand exactly what kind of help a person in distress needs. The Indian students mostly tried to get by on chips and cookies during the trip to the Hungarian capital, which could last up to a week, while most of them were unable to digest the yeast-based breads made in our country. For them, a bowl of Indian-spiced rice dish was pure heaven.”

However, it was only then that the refugee crisis really gained momentum. Volunteers from the foundation therefore delivered fresh, hot one-dish meals to border crossings, refugee shelters in the Debrecen area and in the capital, as well as to train stations. Pastors who are followers of Krishna and had fled Ukraine also participated in the operation as interpreters, who took refuge at the Krishna Temple in Budapest and in Krishna Valley during the crisis. They played a major role in providing pastoral care for mental health.

But the promotions at the train station had just come to an end, Volunteers from the Ukrainian organization "Food for Life" (Pishcha Zhizn) asked for help in continuing their cross-border operations. By then, food prices in the neighboring country had skyrocketed, a significant portion of raw materials had become unavailable, and fuel was also hard to come by.

The "Food for Life" International Organization

„Our Ukrainian colleagues provide meals for thousands of people every day in major Ukrainian cities and their surrounding areas. In Kyiv, during the missile attacks, they distributed lunch in subway tunnels and underpasses to residents stranded underground. They cook simple meals, mostly buckwheat porridge, which is both nutritious and healthy. They prepare these meals day after day with great dedication; it never even occurs to them to flee for their own safety,” says Attila Szanyi-Karl.

„So far this year, we’ve delivered a total of 20 metric tons of food across the border, and several countries have helped us with this, especially the Krishna devotees in England. We also had to bring fuel for the team so they could make it home from the border. ”The strong, young men weren’t allowed to cross over to the Hungarian side of the border,„ Attila explains. “But as a thank-you, we received some cheerful videos from the guys showing them cooking with the ingredients we gave them.” In wartime, however, food distribution isn’t always safe; in August, two pastors lost their lives in the Donbas region when a rocket struck the local kitchen. “During the Christmas season, we’re trying to support the food distribution effort in Ukraine with another special holiday donation, while also organizing the Christmas Charity Banquet here in Hungary. ”We warmly welcome donations from the public for both causes!" Attila emphasizes.

Food for Life, which is also active in Hungary, is present not only in Ukraine but in 150 countries around the world. The global humanitarian mission of the Krishna devotees began in India in the 1970s.

For 30 years now, Food for Life has been committed to helping the Hungarian people

„We never help in place of local initiatives, but rather alongside them! While we were supporting our Ukrainian friends, we also continued our food distribution efforts in Hungary. Every year, we distribute half a million meals, and in partnership with the Hungarian Food Bank, we rescue hundreds of metric tons of vegetables, fruit, and non-perishable foods nearing their expiration dates from supermarket shelves and deliver them to the tables of Hungarian families in need.. Things are really bad here at home, too; food prices are slowly rising to twice what they were a year ago, and utility bills are making life impossible for countless families and retirees. We’re organizing our Christmas Charity Feast again this year—we’re preparing 6,000 servings of holiday meals and food packages nationwide, and if necessary, we’ll cook up more… – Attila winks with a half-smile. – „In addition to our food distribution programs, we’re currently working on developing a new building complex to increase our food distribution capacity, so that even if a situation similar to the crises of recent years were to arise, we’d still be able to meet the growing demand. We are counting on the kind support of the community in this endeavor as well.”

The most effective way to support the work of Food for Life is through monetary donations.

• With just 4,000 forints, you can provide a holiday meal for a family of four,
• With 7,000 forints, we can provide a generous food aid package,
• With as little as 30,000 forints, we can already contribute to their development plans.

You can help with just one click here: www.karitativ.hu