Warm candle light may not only embellish your home or festive meal, but it can also warm a soldier or illuminate his dugout, since war has a bearing on everyone’s life, at times changing the meaning of things surrounding us. Those who do their job with love and devotion know how to put to use everyday things and help the army.
The team of a candle craft production shop from Lviv are exactly such people. In our piece you will learn about how they adjusted their work to the context of war and how they meet the needs of the military. You will also learn about how a candle can not only symbolize the coziness of one’s home, but can also create the atmosphere of home and warmth on the frontline.
Heat accumulator: why such a device is indispensable on the front
A kind of motto of the Lviv candle craft production shop can be expressed as follows – ‘When a candle is more than light‘. It symbolizes coziness and family. It’s a special thing that can render any dinner session magical as well as make a good present. With the beginning of the big war, this motto has taken on a lot more meanings, since a candle also stands for protection and warmth for our defenders.
Heat accumulator is a candle made from paraffin poured into a can. Corrugated cardboard serves as a wick. This special construction makes it possible to tightly close the can. It can easily and quickly warm the soldier, warm up food or become the source of light. The can may be heated on a stove or in boiling water, which would require 10 minutes of waiting.
Paraffin melts at moderate temperatures (+60 °C/ 140 °F), while accumulating a considerable amount of heat, being able to warm the soldier for 4 fours. In order to warm food up you need to open up the can and light the wick. In doing so this can become an invaluable thing on the front.
‘Folks from the Ukrainian Catholic University (hereinafter: UCU) came to us with the idea of producing paraffin-based heat accumulators. The idea itself belongs to a citizen of Mykolayiv (a city in South Ukraine – translator’s note) and a volunteer, Oleksandr Lipatnikov. His 16-year-old son improved on his father’s invention. In cooperation with volunteers from the UCU Oleksandr hit upon the idea of using paraffin and special cans, while we helped them with equipment and premises to work on.
Our craftsmen participated in the production of these heat accumulators. After two months of work we made over 7000 heat accumulators. We do believe that through joint effort and as soon as everyone takes care of their own field of work we will gain victory over our foe’, says the founder of the Lviv candle craft production shop, Andriy Sydor.
Social entrepreneurship: how women and ill children are helped
The Lviv candle craft production shop is a family business of Oksana and Andriy Sydor launched in 2013. Craftspeople produce candles from plant waxes and beeswax or paraffin, choosing flavors and creating festive collections.
This is also a social business, which is why providing help for those in need has become an important part of their entrepreneurial efforts. For example, in cooperation with a public organization ‘People’s help’ their team has financially supported the current expenses of the Women’s Crisis Center, having also employed women from the center at their workshop.
This year’s Easter candle collection was dedicated to Vladyslav Kaminnyi, a boy with SMA (spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disorder affecting spinal cord, which results in paralysis – editor’s note), a disease that requires expensive treatment. 25% of each candle sold was donated to cover Vladyslav’s treatment. During Easter holidays the shop managed to raise 50 thousand Hryvnia (at that time about 1724 USD – translator’s note). This money was transferred to Vladyslav’s charitable account.
The shop often initiates charitable projects and supports social initiatives. It was the family’s conscious choice from the very beginning of their shop’s life.
‘Being socially responsible is essential to us. Our biggest challenge is understanding where our help would be most effective. However, we believe that big changes can be brought about by taking small steps. For example, currently 10 percent of every candle sold is donated to the children’s hospital ‚Okhmatdyt’ that provides treatment for those children who have been affected as a result of the Russian aggression,’ Oksana Sydor says, the founder of the Lviv candle craft production shop.
The activities of the shop may be followed on their website or on their page on Instagram.
What has changed during war
This war has had a significant impact on our team: with the beginning of the full-scale invasion our workshop fully suspended its operations. Some members of our team emigrated while others stayed in Lviv to volunteer. The uncertainty about the future instilled fear in us.
‘Everything that we found important lost its meaning. Everything that we had been building became totally irrelevant. Candles are not basic necessities, nor are they second-need or even third-need goods. We were clearly aware of the fact. Only at the end of March did we begin thinking about how to continue building our business and, more importantly, to hold our team together’, – Andriy Sydor says.
However when people do things they love and believe in, anything is achievable.
‘Since it is more or less quiet in Lviv, we decided to partly resume our operations. We first did it online and after a week our shop was reopened in the Muzeyna square. Even in the times of war people wanted to create an additional sense of comfort in their homes at Easter,’ Andriy Sydor says.
Also, the shop has managed to continue working, hold its team together in its entirety and even make plans for the winter season believing in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the country’s victory.
