“Fire of Freedom”: 8,000 trench candles, 60 camouflage nets and 450 people – a mid-project report

On 7 April our “Fire of Freedom” project started in Kaunas: making trench candles and weaving camouflage nets for Ukraine’s defenders, co-funded by the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania. We have just submitted the mid-project report to the ministry. We want to show the numbers – and what stands behind them – to you as well, the people whose support and hands make all of it happen.

Made since April

• About 8,000 trench candles – finished, packed and sent to the front or ready to go;
• About 25,000 candle blanks – tins with cardboard inserts, waiting only for paraffin;
• 60 camouflage nets, woven in Kaunas;
• 800 kilograms of paraffin collected from churches and shrines across Lithuania – from the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius to Šiluva.

A trench candle is a tin, cardboard and paraffin. At the front it warms hands and dugouts, heats food and – most importantly – burns without smoke or a bright flame that would give away a position. A blank becomes a candle only when there is paraffin, so the wax we drive in from all over Lithuania and the tonnes we buy are the heart of this project.

The people who do it

Since the project began, about 450 people have taken part in “Fire of Freedom”: roughly 300 came in groups, about 80 volunteer periodically, and about 70 come all the time – and not only to the table with the tins or the net frames. They collect paraffin, sort fabric and “shell” tealights, separating the wax from the aluminium cup. That count does not even include the individuals who simply drop in to help.

Until summer we hosted pupils from Kaunas schools – collecting their community-service hours and learning what those hours are actually for – along with company teams and organisations. We continued working with the Kaunas riflemen of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, and a group from Vytautas Magnus University’s Lithuanian heritage-language programme, several dozen people at once, was a real test of our space. The Žaliakalnis, Eiguliai and Aleksotas communities help regularly, and young people from Karmėlava in the Kaunas district have joined in. Together with the “P.A.R.A.K.A.S.” community we ran a trench-candle workshop on Midsummer’s Eve.

Volunteering runs without a break, every working day, all year round. In July and August there were fewer volunteers, as every year – but with the school year starting and people back from holidays, we are waiting for you again.

Where every euro went

So far 6,360 € of project funds have been spent:

• 6,050 € – five tonnes of paraffin (one tonne bought in May, four in August);
• 310 € – fabric for camouflage nets (three purchases).

By the end of the project we plan to use all of the funds – both the ministry’s share and our own. The ministry’s grant covers only part of the project: the rest comes from your donations and, even more, from your time and the tins you collect. That is why every monthly or one-off transfer turns directly into tonnes of paraffin and metres of fabric.

Challenges and plans for autumn

We used to pour candles at Fort IV of the Kaunas Fortress, but since June the fort has been closed for renovation. While new premises are being fitted out at Fort I, the “P.A.R.A.K.A.S.” community will temporarily host the pouring from September. Making blanks and weaving nets at our main premises at Žemaičių g. 31A has not stopped for a single day.

In autumn we plan a trench-candle workshop at the Vytautas the Great War Museum, our own stand and a video story about how a tin becomes warmth for a dugout. We post news and invitations here and on our Facebook page.

How to join “Fire of Freedom”

• Support financially – a monthly donation lets us plan paraffin purchases ahead; a one-off donation finishes what is already prepared. A tonne of paraffin costs about 1,200 € and becomes thousands of candles.
• Come and volunteer – Žemaičių g. 31A, Kaunas, every working day. The volunteering calendar shows what is happening and when; groups, classes and teams are welcome by prior arrangement.
• Bring tins and candle ends – food tins (washed, labels off), tealights, church candle stubs. All of it is a future trench candle.

We thank the Ministry of National Defence for its trust and support for this project, and everyone who came, wove, poured and drove over these five months – for keeping the Fire of Freedom burning. From September, let’s make it burn brighter.

All together. 🇱🇹🇺🇦