Moving people towards life

Hungry For Life International facilitates direct engagement between churches and groups in Canada and communities around the world to address needless suffering. HFL has worked in Ukraine since 2004, helping groups engage in compassionate projects such as widow and orphan care, food programs, social assistance, and building projects. Hungry For Life's projects are primarily located in the eastern part of the country. Additionally, prior to the war, two HFL staff members, Chad and Mary Martz, were living in Zakarpattia, strategically close to the bordering countries of Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

2022 - 2024 Impact Summary

Phase 1: Initial Response (Completed)‍

Hungry For Life mobilized local partners in western Ukraine to support thousands of refugees from the east and Kyiv. They provided essential supplies like food, bedding, and hygiene products to over 2,000 people. Ten churches in the Zakarpattia region hosted 100 refugees each, while another in central Ukraine accommodated 200 daily. Most supplies were sourced from local stores to meet immediate needs.

Phase 2: First Month (Completed)‍

HFL secured a warehouse in western Ukraine for distribution and another in central Ukraine, establishing a nationwide supply network with 25 distribution points. Chad and Mary Martz coordinated local food purchases and collaborated with EU partners to receive aid shipments. Over 200 tonnes of food and essentials were distributed across 30 communities through 120 trips. At $7.50 USD per person per day, 80,000 people received meals.

Phase 3: Six Weeks into War (Completed)‍

HFL expanded its distribution network, sourcing 200 tonnes of potatoes and 227,000 jars of canned meat to provide meals for 575,000 people. Refugee shelters were maintained, and fuel was secured for transportation.

Phase 4: 2022 to 2024 (Completed)‍

HFL provided 4.4 million pounds of food, installed three water wells, and supported IDPs and families of fallen soldiers with essential aid. Infrastructure projects included installing heating systems in churches, delivering critical medical supplies to hospitals, and constructing housing for displaced families. Additionally, HFL funded renovations for a retirement home, built a youth center offering shelter and education, and provided essential appliances like refrigerators and stoves to de-occupied areas, ensuring long-term stability for affected communities.

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Proposed Response 2025

As the war in Ukraine continues, the challenges have shifted beyond immediate survival needs. While food and shelter remain priorities, addressing trauma and emotional distress is crucial. Hungry For Life is committed to meeting these evolving needs through several key initiatives.

Retreat Home‍

A multi-use facility with 7 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms will be built to offer respite for ministry workers and volunteers operating in conflict zones. It will also host four-day retreats for families of fallen soldiers, providing a space for healing and connection.

Food, Hygiene, and Emergency Supplies‍

HFL will maintain a warehouse distributing 15 tonnes of food monthly to ministry partners aiding IDPs and those in de-occupied or conflict zones. Hygiene and seasonal supplies will be provided to those who lost belongings during occupation.

Chaplain Ministry‍

Chaplains will offer spiritual and emotional support to front-line workers and medical staff. HFL aims to raise funds with Ukrainian churches to purchase a van for transporting chaplains and humanitarian supplies to stabilization centers.

House Reconstruction‍

HFL will rebuild homes for two war-affected families and provide permanent housing for a displaced family of five children.

Retirement Home‍

In partnership with a Dutch organization, HFL will support a retirement home for 17 elderly individuals by installing heating, repairing walls, and ensuring stable living conditions.

Poltava Church Plant & Summer Camps‍

A church will be built in a small village near Poltava, serving as a worship space and hosting summer camps for displaced children. The church will also support local ministers and provide eye clinics. Additional ministry opportunities include hosting eye clinics, and a place for ministers to rest an respite.

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Fudesa Ministry oversees the operations of the private Christian Fountain of Life School. Classes start at preschool and go through grade 12, with over 450 students enrolled and over 40 staff members. Teachers are a vital part of the school community providing students with an exceptional Christian education. Spiritual growth is a cornerstone of Fountain of Life’s mission. 

The school campus is divided by the road that leads to the village center. Classrooms for educating pre-school to grade 6 sit on one side of the road, and on the other side are classrooms for grades 7-12. 

As a private Christian school they rely on partners that support the operations of the school, so that they can support their staff members, pay for the school supplies, and provide the best Christian education that so many children are able to receive. 
With a donating for this project, either a one-time or monthly donation, you support the Fountain of Life School directly in their day to day operations.

Pro Infancia is a ministry that contributes to the physical, biopsychosocial and spiritual development of children and adolescents, through opportunities and initiatives for the promotion and protection of their rights, integrating the family, community, and the state in the Dominican Republic. Pro Infancia focusses on comprehensive health in rural communities, education and communication, income generation, community actions, and social participation.

Pro Infancia, in partnership with impoverished rural batey villages, focusses on providing health care to children and pregnant women in these communities. Together with medical teams from Canada, primary care is provided to patients who otherwise would not have access to health care. The Pro Infancia team and the Canadian team work alongside each other to promote the overall well-being of many patients in the communities.

In partnership with our Dominican partner, Carlos Pimentel, and his ministry Proinfancia, we support the Days for Girls (DFG) program in the Dominican Republic. Proinfancia focuses on menstrual health education and the production and distribution of menstrual kits containing supplies that allow girls to manage their menstruation.

Since almost 100% of vulnerable girls between 10 and 18 years old, living in poverty in the rural batey villages, have no access to feminine hygiene, it soon became clear that these girls are in great need of Days For Girls education and kits. These girls are at risk of sexual abuse, in danger of child trafficking, exposed to a "teen pregnancy epidemic," and isolated due to cultural taboos related to menstruation.

Proinfancia's goal is to provide menstrual health education and DFG kits to girls in the Dominican Republic through schools and female groups. One Days For Girls kit can be used for 3 years, enabling the girls to attend school and live their lives during their menstruation period.

Proinfancia produces the feminine hygiene kits in-country in their sewing centers, facilitating jobs for women who help produce the kits. With the support of many Canadian partners and the incredible work of Dominican Days For Girls ambassadors, Proinfancia produced and distributed over 13,000 feminine hygiene kits to women in the Dominican Republic in 2022.

Come alongside Proinfancia and support their goal to provide every girl in the Dominican Republic with a Days For Girls feminine hygiene kit.

Proinfancia and Empowering Action work closely with local churches in different communities. They strongly believe that the local church should serve their communities and reach out to people in need. Together with church leaders, they organize community outreach programs to serve the community and spread the Gospel message through word and deed.

Proinfancia provides a health and nutrition program in collaboration with nurses in the church community. The program serves families with young children, pregnant women, and the elderly who have health issues and are at risk of malnourishment. Proinfancia uses software to keep track of children who are malnourished and supports the families with food hampers and medication. Additionally, nurses visit the families regularly to conduct health check-ups.

Empowering Action organizes other community outreach programs, supporting church leaders and equipping them to reach out to their neighbors in the community. These programs include Bible School programs for children, community roundtable conversations, and house visits. Teams from our Canadian partners work alongside local churches to reach people in the community.

Together with our international partner, Carlos Pimentel, HFL comes alongside local leaders in rural communities in the Dominican Republic. We mainly work in the community New Jerusalem and the batey villages Vasca and Paraiso.

New Jerusalem is a community close to the outside of Santo Domingo. Carlos works together with the local community leader and pastor, Eddyson Duclair, and his wife, Nancy. Their dream is to develop the community and serve the people that comprise it. There is currently a preschool with 81 children and the same school is used as a Haitian and Dominican Church.

Batey Vasca and Batey Paraiso are close to the town Consuelo. Both communities are part of the same sugar cane field where one company owns the factory. Carlos Pimentel is motivated to support the local leader and pastor, David, and his wife Ana, and together work on developing the communities. There are numerous opportunities to focus on in the batey villages and New Jerusalem.

Carlos and the three organizations that he works for, provide all kinds of development programs in the communities where the need is multi-dimensional, and the problems are complex. Hungry For Life is looking forward to supporting the projects our partner is carrying out.

The Institute for Christian Holistic Training (ITCI) and Empowering Action aims to train pastors and community leaders in communities in the Dominican Republic. Through their programs, ITCI seeks to strengthen the godly character of servant leaders in the communities and to provide tools and abilities to increase the competences of local leaders.

These ministries, led by Carlos Pimental, developed a variety of curricula to provide training in small groups and communities to equip the local leaders and pastors, with a focus on the basics of Christianity, so that they can apply biblical principles in all aspects of life. ITCI also provides other resources to multiply mentors in the communities.

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Through sponsorship AMG Guatemala is able to provide multiple opportunities for children to hear and respond to the gospel, education that helps children grow into responsible, independent, self-disciplines and creative problem solvers, nutritious food, healthcare assistance, athletic opportunities and loving discipleship that leads to children discovering their identity in Christ and their worth and purpose.

La escuela Jesus Vienne is a place of love and learning. It is a safe place for students to hear about the love of God and to experience it first hand through the teachers' encouraging words and the fellowship of the student body.

Public schools in San Raymundo are over-crowded and under staffed so, as a result, the quality of education is very poor.

Sponsorship of students allows the staff to be provided with a small salary and to help in the expenses of the supplies needed to keep classes running. Groups that sponsor children at the school are encouraged to make a trip, meet the students and create ties that encourage students to do well and show the visiting team the value of sponsorship.

The board at Jesus Vienne Church has a vision to build a new school that will equip children in the community with a strong, Christian-based education, especially for those students who are not currently attending school because of financial difficulties.

The building will be an extension of the church, with classrooms doubling as Sunday School space.

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