Who we are and what we do

 

We are Franky and Coen.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, we have been traveling to the front lines in our food truck. What began as an impulsive act to provide refugees at the Polish/Ukrainian border with fries has grown into a large-scale mission.

 

We now venture deep into frontline areas, provide assistance to wounded soldiers, evacuate civilians from besieged cities, and run a shelter for war victims.

We distribute fries and snacks, sometimes as many as 2,000 portions in a single day, but that is no longer all we do.

We provide all kinds of humanitarian aid, evacuate people from the front lines, and bring relief supplies, food parcels, and medical equipment to places where almost no one else goes. And we record everything on video so that people here can see what war really means.

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Where we fried fries, and why it's important

Giving away fries may seem like a small thing, but it is a moment of warmth and humanity for war victims in a cold war.

We fried fries in Kherson, Kramatorsk, Lyman, Mykolayiv, Kyiv, Irpin, Butcha, Borodyanka, Hostomel, Kharkiv, Izium, Dnipro, Zaporizja, and many more places. Sometimes we were right behind the zero line (the most advanced part of the front line), sometimes in the middle of a city that was already 80% in ruins.

 

Avdeiïvka

We were in Avdiïvka shortly before the city was completely taken over by the Russians. When we were there, almost everything had already been destroyed. Later, we heard from military friends that no one could leave the city safely anymore.

 

Missile attack

On June 27, 2023, we survived a missile attack in Kramatorsk. We were in the RIA restaurant when a Russian Iskander cruise missile struck. Thirteen people were killed and more than sixty were injured. We were incredibly lucky because we escaped with relatively minor injuries. But we lost friends, including two 14-year-old girls, a 17-year-old girl, and the waitress who had just helped us. That day changed us forever and at the same time strengthened our conviction: we will continue to help Ukraine. Period.

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The Holland House, shelter in a war

In Dnipro, we opened our own shelter: The Holland House.

This is a place where people from the most dangerous areas can recover and catch their breath.

Our guests come from cities such as Bakhmut, Kupiansk, Marinka, and Avdiïvka, places where there has often been no heating, electricity, or running water for months.

Many of them were evacuated in our armored vehicles. Without our help, they would not have survived. Literally.

The Holland House can accommodate around 70 people at a time. They are given their own room, good meals, medical care, and psychological support. Together with them, we look for a safe, permanent place to rebuild their lives.

 

Evacuations, our most dangerous work

One of the most risky things we do is evacuate people from frontline areas.

We drive (usually in armored vehicles) to villages and towns where bombing continues on a daily basis. Where drop and kamikaze drones make it extremely dangerous to scan the area from the air. Where people have sometimes been hiding in basements for months. These people cannot flee themselves because it is far too dangerous. We sometimes have the opportunity to pick them up (often in collaboration with the police or military).

 

Evacuations are not a quick job. We prepare everything in detail. We often lose contact with people along the way, phones stop working, or a house is suddenly hit. Sometimes we arrive and find no one. And sometimes we do. Then we pick up someone who has been waiting for weeks.

 

On every trip, we carry out some of these evacuations, but we also work with Ukrainian heroes who risk their lives to free people from their perilous situations.