Lotus Fund and Nova Post held Run for Light races in 12 European countries and raised more than half a million hryvnias.

These races spanned tens of kilometers across 12 European countries, with over 750 participants running with flashlights in hand to remind the world that the war in Ukraine is still ongoing. Run for Light, a student-run Lotus Fund, and Nova Post managed to raise over 515,000 hryvnias to purchase power devices for the 26th Artillery Brigade, the PARAGON special forces unit of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, and medical equipment that has already been delivered to the Chernihiv Military Hospital. See the full procurement report on the Lotus Fund page.
The Run for Light event reached the streets of Vilnius, Berlin, Kyiv, Brussels, Milan, Barcelona, Bratislava, Tbilisi, London, Vienna, Zurich, and Krakow. Each city had a particular letter-shaped race route to form the phrase Run For Light UA. Each route was about 5 km long, so everyone could take part, even without prior training.
Local partners and organizations such as UYGL, UA.Milan, the Ukrainian Youth Community in Slovakia, and others supported the initiative. Instead of a traditional starting gun, a new signal developed by Nova Post was used to begin the race, ensuring it would not distress people with PTSD or veterans. This project involved sound designers from Los Angeles, psychologists from Harvard, and professors from Kyiv Technical University.
Kyiv and Vilnius attracted the most participants, with over 100 people joining the race in each city. And in Milan half of the participants were foreigners. We recorded the largest single donation of €300 and the largest contribution to the project's financial goal in Zurich. Meanwhile, the race in Brussels was the most international, bringing together participants from Belgium, Ukraine, the United States, South Korea, India, Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany.
«When planning the race, we anticipated about 80% of the participants to be Ukrainians. Despite this, we were amazed by the number of foreigners who supported us, often contributing two, three, or even five times the minimum donation required for participation. We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to every local coordinator and organization that involves foreigners in supporting our mission to aid the Ukrainian military. Participants from different countries have asked us about the next activities of the Foundation. This motivates us to keep developing our activities abroad to advocate for Ukraine's interests,»
— says Serhii Lysin, co-founder of Lotus Fund.
It was symbolic to launch the project on the eve of what promises to be a challenging winter for Ukraine. After all, the aggressor continues to destroy the country's energy infrastructure on a daily basis.
«The Run for Light race demonstrated the incredible strength of unity when people from different countries come together for a common goal. Nova Post unites those separated by borders, just as this race brought together Ukrainians and Europeans to remind the world that the war in Ukraine continues. This was not just another charity event, it was a step towards unity in the name of Ukraine. More than half a million hryvnias raised by supporters from all over the world prove that light is indeed stronger than darkness,»
— commented Olena Plakhova, Reputation Management Director at Nova Post.
Lotus Fund is the largest student fund for military-related activities that engages active Ukrainian youth from all over the world in volunteering. This community consists of startups, philanthropists, activists, and social project founders. Since early 2023, the foundation has been holding fundraising campaigns and providing the military and medical personnel with drones, thermal imagers, power supplies, tactical equipment, and other essentials to protect Ukraine's freedom.
Nova Post is a Ukrainian express delivery company founded in 2001. The company's goal is to ensure easy delivery for every customer whether to a branch, parcel locker, or address. It provides logistics and distribution services, delivering both documents and the smallest parcels, as well as large cargoes. Across Europe, the company operates under the Nova Post brand in 16 countries: Poland, Lithuania, Czechia, Germany, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, France, Austria, and the Netherlands. The company provides fast and reliable delivery between European countries, as well as to and from Ukraine.