In August 1996, Ukrainian volunteers registered the organization "Priyateli Ditey" with the Ministry of Justice in Ukraine as a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of children living in orphanages in Ukraine. In Ukrainian the words priyateli ditey means - friends of children.
 

On the left -  Maryna Krysa, President On the right -  Dianna Derhak, Volunteer Priyateli Ditey Help Us Help The Children Kyiv, Ukraine

The founders of the organization were inspired to action to assist the children living in orphanages because of their dire living conditions. About 50,000 children, from infants to teenagers live in orphanages. These orphanages are homes not only to orphans but increasingly also serve as a form of social protection for non-orphans from economically impoverished and/or dysfunctional families. Due to the protracted economic crisis in Ukraine, government support and funding for orphanages has been severely limited and the children live in a state of deprivation and poverty.