Moldova Stands With Ukraine
Donation protected
FUNDING UPDATE (4/24/22): I want to update you all on my two main priority areas going forward. I will begin contributing to both initiatives this coming week. Please help me get to the $30k goal so that we can fund them more repeatedly and impactfully.
1. MEDICATION — there is a shortage of critical medication in various areas of the country. A common example early on was insulin. Another category is psychiatric medication, such as anti-epileptics. I received one sizable request from a non-profit in Ukraine for people with mental disabilities, which I’m hoping to fulfill and have delivered this week, with the help of several organizations at various points in the process. Psychiatric institutions in regions like the Donbas have been moving their patients to institutions in relatively safer areas. While the number of patients in these institutions goes up, the supply of critical medication does not. Similarly, pharmacy supplies are oftentimes depleted, posing a serious threat to people who rely on certain essential meds. In the meantime, I have also seen multiple requests for basic meds (ibuprofen, aspirin, iodine, first aid, etc.) in areas like Odesa. Again, this is a solvable problem.
2. EVACUATIONS — an organization by the name of Human Front Aid came out of a spontaneous operation set up by two friends from Odesa (one of whom is Swiss, but has been living there for years). They have buses running daily from red zones like Odesa, Mykolaiv, and even Kherson, to the Palanca border. The people driving these buses and working the routes are nothing short of heroes. We’ve all seen the reports. The risks they take on, every day, are enormous. But they take risk willingly and, in fact, HFA doesn’t have a shortage of drivers or vehicles. The issue, however, is fuel costs.
On average, an evacuation trip costs ~€30 per evacuated person. One bus with 50 passengers is ~€1,500 Euros. There’s still ~100,000 left in Mykolaiv and the only bottleneck to helping evacuate more people, every day, is fuel. We want to help Human Front Aid solve this, so that they can continue saving lives.
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I’m raising funds to help several non-profits and volunteer groups that have been supporting both Ukrainian refugees in Moldova, as well as at-risk communities in Ukraine.
1. MEDICATION — there is a shortage of critical medication in various areas of the country. A common example early on was insulin. Another category is psychiatric medication, such as anti-epileptics. I received one sizable request from a non-profit in Ukraine for people with mental disabilities, which I’m hoping to fulfill and have delivered this week, with the help of several organizations at various points in the process. Psychiatric institutions in regions like the Donbas have been moving their patients to institutions in relatively safer areas. While the number of patients in these institutions goes up, the supply of critical medication does not. Similarly, pharmacy supplies are oftentimes depleted, posing a serious threat to people who rely on certain essential meds. In the meantime, I have also seen multiple requests for basic meds (ibuprofen, aspirin, iodine, first aid, etc.) in areas like Odesa. Again, this is a solvable problem.
2. EVACUATIONS — an organization by the name of Human Front Aid came out of a spontaneous operation set up by two friends from Odesa (one of whom is Swiss, but has been living there for years). They have buses running daily from red zones like Odesa, Mykolaiv, and even Kherson, to the Palanca border. The people driving these buses and working the routes are nothing short of heroes. We’ve all seen the reports. The risks they take on, every day, are enormous. But they take risk willingly and, in fact, HFA doesn’t have a shortage of drivers or vehicles. The issue, however, is fuel costs.
On average, an evacuation trip costs ~€30 per evacuated person. One bus with 50 passengers is ~€1,500 Euros. There’s still ~100,000 left in Mykolaiv and the only bottleneck to helping evacuate more people, every day, is fuel. We want to help Human Front Aid solve this, so that they can continue saving lives.
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I’m raising funds to help several non-profits and volunteer groups that have been supporting both Ukrainian refugees in Moldova, as well as at-risk communities in Ukraine.
I’ve been back in Moldova for the last few weeks, working with several groups that are making a tremendous impact despite having very limited resources. In many cases, I've been helping fill gaps (to the extent I can) with personal funds. Regardless of what I raise here, I’ll continue doing that. Additional funds will allow me to contribute more to projects that are fundraising every day with little to no buffer.
I will use the funds on a need by need basis, for projects that I'm directly involved with here, and post continuous updates, as well as snippets of personal experience to give those who are interested some additional context. Main examples of such needs are:
- Humanitarian aid to refugees within Moldova. Moldovans have opened their homes to Ukrainian refugees, with most staying in private residences vs. state-run centers. However, most Moldovans, especially in rural areas, don't have the means to cover the additional cost, especially given the levels of inflation.
- Fuel cost to deliver aid and transport refugees. Most drivers are individual volunteers, spending $100+ a day on gas. That's unsustainable for people in most countries, let alone one of the poorest countries in Europe. I have even met people who opened a line of credit at their local gas station.
- Humanitarian aid to refugee centers in Ukraine that are supporting people with physical and intellectual disabilities.
- Donations to non-profits that have repurposed their resources as much as possible to help with the refugee crisis, with an emphasis on disability-inclusive support.
Organizer
Vlad Munteanu
Organizer
Bethesda