Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine

Hi, My name is Russell Powell and I am raising money for humanitarian aid to Ukraine. I recently traveled to several of the Poland/Ukraine borders and finally made my way into L'viv.

With all of the great organizations working to provide humanitarian aid, there are still gaps to be filled.

 

This is my main goal. To fill in the gaps the larger organizations have either missed or where they don't have enough support. There are also gaps where one level of support ends before the next one begins. I have found a network of volunteers that work tirelessly to fill the holes and bridge the gaps while they fulfill their main mission of direct aid and support to the people. 100% of the money raised will go directly to the aid of the refugees both inside and out of Ukraine.

 

Anyone can do something to help. I can’t do the things that you can do, so I do what I am able to do and hope others do the same.

 

This is an introduction to my story, Your Everyday Trip to a Warzone in Ukraine. While I call it my story, it is really about those beautiful souls that are doing all they can to help the wonderful people of Ukraine.

 

When I was in L’viv delivering food, aid, and medical supplies, a woman by the name of Mila asked me what I thought of Ukraine so far. All I could tell her so far was that ALL of the people I had met were really wonderful. She then began to tell me about how incredible all of the people are and also the country itself. She said that normally it is really beautiful and yes the people are wonderful. There was no doubt that she truly loves her country of Ukraine.

They all deserve to live out their lives there in peace!

 

 

Like many Americans and people around the world, since the war started in Ukraine I have been asking myself, what can I do to help? Every day my heart sank as I watch the crisis unfold in Ukraine and at the borders as I listened to stories of children freezing to death and worse. I started sending money t the Red Cross- US and Polish, Unicef, IRC, and other humanitarian organizations. I kept telling myself that this wasn’t enough and trying to figure out how to do more. I started collecting t-shirts, flags, and blue and yellow stickers to show solidarity and drum up support for Ukraine. My daughter made bracelets and wore blue and yellow shoes while my wife put out blue and yellow flowers.

 

 

 

 

In the first 2 weeks of the war, I wore a Ukraine shirt in a 10k race and saw a few others showing similar support as well. I was amazed at how few people, out of the 10 thousand I came into contact with, gave even a nod or subtle wave. All I could think of was that they must not know what was really going on. They must be thinking, what I have in the past about other wars, that the militaries were fighting each other, and as tragic as that is, it is an unfortunate fact of life. They must not be seeing the humanitarian tragedy that is unfolding as the Russians are bombarding so many non-military targets and blocking the humanitarian corridors.

 

With that, I was even more determined to find ways I could help. I sent emails and tweets to news outlets and people that I saw on the ground to ask if they could help me find more and better ways to help. One day I saw a new cast where volunteers in support of Ukraine said that they say the best way to help was to get resources directly into the hands of the people. That stuck with me.

 

The opportunity finally came when my job sent me to the Netherlands for work. I immediately started asking around for ways to help as refugees are seeking shelter throughout Europe. Some of my coworkers were already involved in relief programs and they openly welcomed the offer. I was fortunate enough to first be able to meet some of the families and hear their stories. I started to ask about how I could deliver supplies to the border and if they knew of any friends or family members that needed help getting to them.

 

My co-worker introduced me to another volunteer that had sprung into action on the first day of the war. She set up a network of volunteers to help pick up and receive the refugees and provide aid all over Europe.  Since then I have met many others that are working tirelessly to get much-needed humanitarian aid into Ukraine.

Please help if you can or just share this with others.