On December 27, a Christmas solo concert of the singer Oksana Kozun-Turcer «Joy, earth!», organized by the charity organization ADRA Ukraine, took place in the city of Kyiv, in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The event had the charitable purpose of fundraising for the ADRA Kids project aimed at supporting children affected by the war: children of ex-combatants, children who have lost one or both parents, children of internally displaced persons and other vulnerable categories.

Thanks to donations during the concert, it was possible to collect 43,390 UAH, while the online collection for the project continues.

Oksana Kozun-Turcer specially came to Kyiv from Slovakia, where she currently lives, to support children who survived the war together with ADRA Ukraine. In her performance, songs dedicated to the birth of the Savior, victory over evil and hope in difficult times were performed. Addressing the listeners, the singer noted:

«I wish both myself and you that this time that God has given us, we use the best and most good — for ourselves and for our relatives».

During the event, the new head of ADRA Ukraine Andrii Babentsov addressed the audience. He said that during the full-scale war, the organization provided assistance to more than 3.5 million unique beneficiaries and implemented 77 humanitarian projects in Ukraine. Speaking about helping children as one of the key areas of work, he emphasized:

«Children did not choose this terrible reality, but we can choose to be near them. By supporting children, we support the future of our country. This concert — is not only a cultural event, but a reminder that even in the darkest times, music, unity and humanity can be a light. And light sooner or later defeats darkness».

ADRA Kids manager Maryna Piddubna told about the features of the ADRA Kids project. According to her, the project does not have a permanent donor and is developing thanks to the contributions of caring people.

«We only work for three months. We started on September 28 with a big event, during which we supported 149 children and gave them a real holiday for the whole family. Today, statistics on children who have lost their parents, been forced to leave their homes or are constantly under stress remain extremely alarming. And it is we adults who have to take responsibility to support them».

The host of the evening, Serhii Stepaniuk, reminded that in September, during the presentation of the ADRA Kids project, the famous singer, Honored Artist of Ukraine Anzhelika Rudnytska, as well as the young singer Sofia Nersesian, representative of Ukraine at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, who won second place, took part in the event.

Roman Prodanyuk, head of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ukraine, addressed the audience with a spiritual speech. He prayed for Ukraine — for children, widows, families and soldiers, asking God to intercede for them and end the war with a just peace, «so that we could live freely and peacefully on our land».

After the concert, a charity fair of goodies was held in the premises. The collected funds will be directed to the organization of events for children, gifts, as well as to overcome educational losses. As part of the project, the ADRA Kids team plans to conduct extracurricular classes in various areas, provide online support to children from different regions of Ukraine, and organize summer camps.

Fundraising for the ADRA Kids project continues. You can join it at this link.

You can watch the recording of the concert at this link.