How GURTUM Keeps Track of Its Tools While Rebuilding Kyiv

The day after GURTUM logged its first power tools into Shelf, a missile and drone strike hit Kyiv. Within days, those same tools, each with a QR label, were boarding up the broken windows of the buildings it damaged.

At a glance

• Over UAH 300,000 (about USD 6,660) of power tools tracked in one place
• More than 20 volunteers using them almost every week
• From a lost spreadsheet to knowing where each tool is stored, or where it went missing

GURTUM: rebuilding, one site at a time

GURTUM is a volunteer-run Ukrainian charity founded in 2022, right after Russia's full-scale invasion. Its teams rebuild schools, restore bomb shelters for children, repair cultural buildings hit by missile strikes and set up local libraries, mostly in the Kyiv region and across Ukraine more broadly. Everyone at GURTUM, including the director, works unpaid.

Works in: the Kyiv region and across Ukraine Founded: 2022 People: more than 20 volunteers using the tools every week What they track: drills, rotary hammers, impact wrenches, circular saws, angle grinders and other power tools

We spoke with Oleksandr Kahal, Director of GURTUM.

Before: the spreadsheet that disappeared

GURTUM's tools and supplies move constantly between sites and teams. For a long time, Excel held it all together.

"Before Shelf, we relied entirely on Excel spreadsheets to keep track of our drills, rotary hammers, and other tools. Unfortunately, we lost that system, so we decided to look for a more modern, simple, and affordable solution."

— Oleksandr Kahal, Director of GURTUM

The first week

GURTUM started logging its first tools into Shelf on 1 July 2026. The next day, 2 July, Kyiv was hit by a massive missile and drone attack. GURTUM's volunteers responded immediately and, with allied charities, boarded up more than 100 broken windows with OSB panels.

"While working on-site, we realized that the software is a perfect fit for our operational needs. Our volunteer team warmly welcomed the transition to a digitized inventory, noting the convenience and accessibility of the service."

— Oleksandr Kahal, Director of GURTUM

Now: every tool has a place

Each tool now has its own record and QR label in Shelf, with where it is kept. With more than 20 volunteers taking tools out almost every week, that answers the question that used to cost the most time.

"Knowing the location of each asset is important because it saves us time and helps us quickly find out where a tool is stored or where it might have gone missing."

— Oleksandr Kahal, Director of GURTUM

"Our equipment is worth over UAH 300,000 (6,660+ USD) and is used by more than 20 volunteers almost every week. With ongoing Russian drone and missile attacks on Kyiv, this equipment is essential to our work."

— Oleksandr Kahal, Director of GURTUM

October: a student dormitory

The work hasn't stopped. In late October, GURTUM's volunteers were back on site, the same QR-labelled tools in hand.

"Yesterday and today, we worked at the State Transport University, where a Russian missile hit 20 meters away from a student dormitory."

— Oleksandr Kahal, Director of GURTUM, 28 October 2026

GURTUM uses Shelf's Team plan free of charge, as our support for their work in Ukraine. Other registered nonprofits get 10% off the Team plan when billed annually; see pricing. You can learn more about GURTUM's work, and support it, at gurtum.org.