A New Zealand charity is turning scrap metal into lifesaving heat for families trapped in Ukraine’s war zones.

Kiwi K.A.R.E’s Heat-for-Health project has repurposed more than 5000 unserviceable hot water cylinders into wood-burning stoves and water boilers – vital for survival in areas without power or water.

Operating out of a Kyiv workshop, the team fabricate the units for distribution into Red Zones, where infrastructure has been decimated by constant attacks.

Each stove carries a brass plaque etched with a map of New Zealand and the words “With Love From New Zealand”, a symbol of hope from a country half a world away.

Heat-for-Health, a lesser-known life-saving initiative, is the fabrication and distribution of stoves and water boilers.

“Heat-for-Health is fundamentally a recycling project. Unserviceable electrical hot water cylinders are collected each day and returned to our workshop in Kyiv,” founder and former Tauranga City Council Mayor Tenby Powell said.

“Many of the families and individuals who have received one describe it as life-saving, particularly during eastern Ukraine’s harsh winter.”

The wood-burning stoves and water-boiling units are described as life-saving by Ukrainians.

Working with local authorities and civic leaders to identify those most in need, the units are distributed to families living in Red Zones, many of whom are without power or water due to the constant attacks on infrastructure.

Each unit has a small brass plaque affixed to the front, on which a map of New Zealand is etched, together with the words “With Love From New Zealand”.

A small brass plaque is attached to the front of each of the units.

“The plaques add little overall cost while sending a big message of hope and support from New Zealand, a small country on the other side of the world. It also reinforces our commitment to engaging in meaningful and effective humanitarian diplomacy,” Powell said.

Kiwi K.A.R.E is best-known in New Zealand for delivering ambulances into war-torn Ukraine, which it has been doing since 2023.

To date, the charity has shipped 35 ambulances and added seven support vehicles soured locally, including a 13-tonne truck.

“The ambulances are just a means to an end – which is to save lives and care for the sick and injured during evacuations and hospital transfers,” Powell said.

Kiwi K.A.R.E has conducted more than 4000 evacuations and patient transfers to hospitals and medical centres, some of which are long-haul journeys across dangerous territory.

“Two Road-of-Life ambulances have been hit by drones, with one written-off,” Powell said. “Ambulances and humanitarian vehicles are regularly targeted by drones.”

However, Road-of-Life is just one of three core workstreams Kiwi K.A.R.E manages, together with Heat-for-Health and the general distribution of humanitarian and medical aid into beleaguered areas behind the front lines.

Kiwi K.A.R.E is a registered New Zealand Charitable Organisation. For more information and to support, go to: www.kiwikareukraine.co.nz.