Run for Relief in Ukraine

Please consider donating as I run the Brooklyn Half Marathon to raise humanitarian aid for the crisis in Ukraine. My goal is to raise $3,000 for Direct Relief between now and race day on April 24th. As a bonus, anyone who donates at least $27 can choose a song on my race day playlist! Here’s why I’m doing this:

 

My great-grandfather and namesake, Genek, was born in the city of Lviv, in modern-day Ukraine. He would joke that he lived in three countries though he had never actually moved across a border, but rather the border moved across him. The realities of territorial conquest, however, were not a joke in his life, as he eventually fled Lviv by foot and walked hundreds of miles to Belgium to escape Nazi conquest in what was then Poland. He was one of the only members of his family to survive the Holocaust, and the rest of his life was impacted by trauma and an elusive sense of place.

 

Today, millions of people in the same region are victims of conquest, once again in the name of territorial and ideological ambition. Many of us feel helpless as we observe this crisis from afar. My hope is that with your support, we can focus on addressing the devastating human impacts of this war amidst the blurry overtones of loyalty and revenge.

 

Direct Relief provides unconditional aid to people affected by disease, poverty, and disaster. Direct Relief has already provided 30 tons of medical aid to Ukraine during the war, including oxygen and emergency medication. The organization is communicating with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health to coordinate crisis relief, while it also prepares to provide long term relief services to those permanently upended by the war.