Family’s pride as chef aids relief workers
THE family of a Llanelli chef who dropped everything to go to the Ukrainian border and help with the refugee crisis say they are incredibly proud of their son.
David Leeke has been on the border of Poland and Ukraine for almost a month and is nearly halfway through his mercy mission working with the charity Stowarzyszenie Folkowisko Association and the Cieszanow Commune to help those fleeing the war with Russia.
More than 10 million people have fled their homes in the Ukraine since Russia started its invasion in the early hours of February 24.
David, 40, who works as a chef at Gower’s Fairyhill wedding venue, flew into Lublin in Poland on March 14 and since then has been working up to 17 hours some days cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for relief workers in the town of Cieszanow close to the western Ukraine border.
Along with transporting supplies across the border, he is posting regular updates on his Facebook page and wrote in a post at the end of last week after one particular day helping over the border alongside medics: “It was upsetting at times and there ended up being thousands of refugees passing through during the day, car after car, buses and vans.
“It took us nearly two hours to get over the border on the way back and the medic teams do this every day and night.”
Temperatures can plummet as low as -2C at night, even indoors.
To date the Folkowisko Association and the Cieszanow Commune have seen the creation of a large warehouse in Cieszanow, from which food is delivered every day to supply about 50,000 people in the border areas on the Ukrainian side.
The charity was not humanitarian-based before the war, instead it used to organise fundraising concerts, but its focus quickly changed in the wake of the invasion.
During a livestream on Facebook David explained the work being done and gave a tour of the warehouse headquarters.
He said: “In terms of volunteers, in the week there are between 40 and 50 of us and then more at weekends, we also have several groups of doctors and nurses who work with us. Some of them are from America, others are from Canada, some from Sweden as well, we are getting a lot of support from other countries now.
“There’s vegetables, tinned food, snacks which are all boxed up, put on to pallets and shipped to the border into Ukraine.” Lorries from across Europe arrive every day with supplies.
David said clothes, sleeping bags, flasks and kettles are among items arriving, with volunteers from all corners of the world on site to help get them over the border.
David’s cooking means volunteers are fuelled up for long days and he has even been dubbed the “angel of the kitchen” by grateful colleagues.
Back in Felinfoel, Llanelli, David’s father Stuart has been keeping up to date with his son’s efforts.
Stuart said: “I am incredibly proud of what David is doing.
“Many people talk about wanting to go and help in situations like this and David has gone and done it.
“We are in regular contact on Facebook and had a few phone calls. He will be there until mid May and has a very basic kitchen to use, just a stove really, but he’s able to make meals for everyone and meet dietary needs too which people have welcomed.
“People have been writing notes on paper plates as thanks for his cooking which he has put on the wall in the kitchen.”
Thankfully Dave’s friends and family have all been supportive of his decision and have pulled together to help while he’s away.
Fairyhill has agreed to keep his job available for him for when he returns home. David has also set up a Justgiving page which can be found at www.justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/helpukraineaid