![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/EWR3PRCR2BAM7MXFFKSJF6F7JA.jpg\")
\nHarriet Campbell, known as \u2018Amy in Ukraine\u2019 at home in Tauranga. Photo \/ Kelly O\u2019Hara.<\/p>\n
When Ukraine was invaded in 2022, Harriet Campbell was helping run her family\u2019s popular caf\u00e9 in the Kaimai range.<\/p>\n
Today, the 33-year-old Tauranga woman, known as \u201cAmy in Ukraine\u201d, has made five trips into the war-torn country, delivered more than 5000 meals to soldiers and civilians near the front lines, and fallen in love with an American archaeologist she met through aid work.<\/p>\n
Now she and her fianc\u00e9, Jason Zan, are preparing to share their story at a public talk in Tauranga on March 14.<\/p>\n
\nHarriet Campbell, known as \u2018Amy in Ukraine\u2019 at home in Tauranga. Photo \/ Kelly O\u2019Hara.<\/p>\n
Campbell\u2019s first trip to Ukraine was in October 2022, just months after the full-scale invasion began. At the time, she and her family were selling The Falls Caf\u00e9, which they had owned for 11 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had the caf\u00e9 for many years, and I had a background in cooking,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw what people were doing on the border \u2013 there was World Central Kitchen and others \u2013 and I just thought, I have the skills to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
She began fundraising from New Zealand for tourniquets, desperately needed on the front lines. With postal services suspended, she had to buy the medical supplies in the United States and find someone willing to receive them and forward them to Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually put a post up on Reddit asking for someone in America who could help me send them on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/O2KCRUT3JREFXJ2SH2NB4TFWOE.jpg\")
\nHarriet Campbell and Jason Zan providing hot food in Ukraine. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
That post was seen by Zan, 41, an archaeologist with experience in backcountry work and search and rescue, who had just returned from his first trip to Ukraine and wanted to continue supporting the country. Through his connections there, he knew he could help.<\/p>\n
From that initial contact, the pair began working together. They first teamed up at a dog shelter outside Lviv, near the Polish border, caring for animals rescued from front-line areas.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was going to be the only one there with about 20 dogs,\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it seemed like a really good idea to have an extra pair of hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/BGKYDGCKNVHPZMFIBC2VJP57TU.jpg\")
\nHarriet Campbell and Jason Zan launched \u2018Never Alone \u2013 Humanitarian Kitchen\u2019 in Ukraine to provide fresh meals to frontline towns. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
They went their separate ways after that first trip but stayed in touch, reconnecting in Ukraine in early 2023 and again over the winter of 2023\u201324.<\/p>\n
Over time, their shared commitment to humanitarian work deepened into a relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels strange to have found so much love and happiness because of such a horrible thing,\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels almost unfair that I\u2019ve found that while other people are losing their husbands and children.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple is now engaged.<\/p>\n
In 2024, drawing on Campbell\u2019s hospitality background and Zan\u2019s field skills, they launched their own project, Never Alone Humanitarian Kitchen.<\/a><\/p>\n Over two three-month deployments \u2013 August to November 2024 and May to August 2025 \u2013 they cooked and delivered more than 5000 fresh meals to frontline towns, internally displaced persons centres, children\u2019s programmes and soldiers in remote positions.<\/p>\n While food was critical, Campbell said morale was often the greatest need.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople were tired. They\u2019d already lived through two years of war. A lot of them felt like the world was starting to forget about them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to show them they hadn\u2019t been forgotten \u2013 to give them a morale boost and a moment of reprieve.\u201d<\/p>\n Campbell, who has also worked in relief kitchens in eastern regions such as Kharkiv, said she has found a \u201csecond home\u201d in Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a country at war, but it\u2019s also a country that has learned to keep living in spite of the war,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some ways, they live more fiercely because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n She believes distance has shaped how many New Zealanders perceive the conflict.<\/p>\n \u201cI often hear a lot of misinformation, and sometimes even outright Russian propaganda,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople\u2019s attention spans are short. When another conflict flares up elsewhere, focus shifts and that affects the aid that gets to Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n After spending about six months apart, Zan recently arrived in New Zealand for two weeks, including attending Campbell\u2019s sister\u2019s wedding.<\/p>\n While they have not yet set their own wedding date, the couple are exploring potential job opportunities in New Zealand, while also remaining committed to supporting Ukraine.<\/p>\n On Saturday, March 14, they will speak at the Salvation Army Church in Tauranga, sharing what Campbell describes as \u201cthe honest experiences of two people who have made a combined 11 trips to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion\u201d.<\/p>\n The talk is both a thank you to the many New Zealanders who have supported their work<\/a> and an opportunity to give the wider community insight into daily life in a country at war.<\/p>\n \u201cWe couldn\u2019t have done this without New Zealanders,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cThis has been the most worthwhile and meaningful work of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n For those who attend, it will be a chance to hear not only about hardship and resilience on the front lines, but also about an unexpected love story forged in the most unlikely of places.<\/p>\n To support Never Alone \u2013 Humanitarian Kitchen go to their Givealittle page<\/a>. Follow Amy and Jason on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Ukraine was invaded in 2022, Harriet Campbell was helping run her family\u2019s popular caf\u00e9 in the Kaimai…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-319201","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DJNMUTPHS5HMBFEUQHF7D4OQWU.jpg\")
\nMeals prepared by \u2018Never Alone \u2013 Humanitarian Kitchen\u2019 in Ukraine. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/BRPWQPPUBRALFIWVD43N5QZHK4.jpg\")
\nHarriet Campbell, known as \u2018Amy in Ukraine\u2019 at home in Tauranga, with a Ukraine flag and her helmet. Photo \/ Kelly O\u2019Hara<\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/UAE47YJ3YVGCXAKYZABNF5LLWU.jpg\")
\nHarriet Campbell and Jason Zan providing hot food in Ukraine. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n