Fellow citizens!

A military invasion of a neighbouring country and the bombing of residential areas, taking civilians hostage, is a barbarity that seemed unthinkable in 21st century Europe. Humanly imagining what would happen to us if something similar happened in Latvia, begs the questions: “How can I help? What is the attitude of the people around me and the company I work for?”

So we would like to tell you what Baltic Restaurants is doing and will continue to do to help people affected by the war in Ukraine. We donated EUR 10,000 to various aid programmes. At the request of doctors, we purchased a state-of-the-art instrument for war trauma surgery and sent it to Latvian microsurgeons who are volunteering in Ukraine to help save the lives and health of injured soldiers and civilians. We reassigned the company’s cargo van to the “Tavi Draugi” association, which collects and transports humanitarian aid for civilians and soldiers in Ukraine. In February, Chat, Restart, Noonbox and Daily lunch restaurants ran a three-day “Soup for Ukraine” campaign where we received EUR 5,085.01 for 3,140 portions of soup with a Ukrainian recipe. In May, we sold heart-shaped biscuits with Latvian and Ukrainian flags in the “3 € from the heart” campaign, raising a total of EUR 3,600 and doubling the amount to EUR 7,200. All the money raised in both campaigns was donated to the Ukrainian support fund “Entrepreneurs for Peace”. This will certainly not be all we will do. For our part, we encourage you to take individual action within your means. Thank you if you are already doing so.

We know from history, including Latvia’s recent history, that there are decisive moments when it is simply not possible to stand by and be impartial. Such a moment has come again. What everyone does today, and what we all do together, will determine the world we live in tomorrow.

Wishing you resilience and optimism,

Your Baltic Restaurants