Hi everyone,
The invasion of Ukraine hit close to home as my closest friend is Ukrainian by birth. When presented with the opportunity to join forces with a team who was working to support this crisis, I could not pass it up. Our plan is simple: deliver life saving water filters and medical supplies to the border of Ukraine to be ferried throughout the country, and purchase supplies in Poland for the refugees that have fled their homes and are overflowing in the city of Krakow.
By way of an amazing connection, World Hope International (WorldHope.org) has offered a match of up to $50,000 for the money we raise and assist with logistics and anything else so we can get these filters to Ukraine. (See direct link below)
We will meet this call as soon as possible and will depart on May 24, 2022 to take supplies. I am reaching out to you to support us, see if you could spread the word, and help us bring clean water to these devastated parts of Ukraine. We have already negotiated an extremely discounted rate from the company requested, Sawyer, www.Sawyer.com. We were asked for single and bucket filtration systems. https://www.sawyer.com/products#0
This is an extremely grass-roots effort. There are two ways you can donate- 1) make a donation through World Hope International, a Charity Navigator verified and highly rated non-profit; or 2) contribute to this page to specifically support the refugees in Poland.
Once in country, we will deliver the medical supplies and water filters to be ferried into Ukraine. I will not be going into Ukraine myself. I will be staying behind in Krakow to purchase supplies needed by the refugees there. See Q&A below on how we will work this effort.
Earlier events: On April 1, 2022, a friend of mine, Kristina Tanasichuk led an amazing group of volunteers to Poland to deliver thousands of tourniquets, drones and other critical items to the front-lines of Ukraine. All of these items were specifically requested as “critical” by friends and colleagues of LABUkraine on the front lines. This mission was so successful that she is repeating it for the water filters.
Kristina is a first generation Ukrainian who was raised in the U.S. extremely engaged in the Ukrainian culture and heritage. Her “day job" has been supporting America – through working to help and support the homeland security community, which is how I met her. She founded a number of non-profit organizations to do that: Women in Homeland Security, the Government Technology & Services Coalition, and purchased the media site Homeland Security Today in 2017. In 2017, her daughter founded the STEM program LABUkraine under the auspices of Women in Homeland Security and went to western Ukraine to build their first computer labs for an all-girls orphanage in Bukova, Ukraine.
When Russia invaded, they pivoted a number of efforts to support Ukraine.
While in Poland, she had the opportunity to buy and send additional supplies, and restocked one of the refugee centers in Krakow with essential hygiene items, and some Easter candy. They found that prices in Poland are ¼ of what they are here in the US – AND there was no shipping. We feel like there was a direct impact for the people of Ukraine – both still in-country fighting, and for the refugees in Poland.
While there, the ask changed from tourniquets (although those are still needed) to water filtration. As you have seen, the Russians have destroyed many cities and villages in Ukraine, destroying infrastructure including water systems. The remaining people are in dire need of clean water. Additionally, soldiers are drinking unfiltered water from contaminated wells, rivers, and other unclean sources. They desperately need single filtration systems as well.
Enter World Hope and our next mission.
We will bring the water filters (along with more medical supplies) directly to Poland and have them picked up and taken to the front lines for distribution. With your help, we can bring $100,000 worth of water filters to the front lines!
DONATIONS CAN BE MADE HERE:
https://worldhope.org/emergency-relief/hope-for-ukraine/?form=Water4Ukraine
To see our efforts for yourselves, you can see the story on the news from San Diego, where Kristina has been living:
You can also see footage of the previous trip on TikTok and Homeland Security Today:
@tourniquets4ukraine
https://www.hstoday.us/category/ukraine/
FAQs
1. How do we know the supplies are actually getting to those who need it?
We are working directly with a hub in Kyiv that is delivering supplies to both civilian and military populations. The organization “100% LIFE” is comprised of medical doctors and volunteers who before the war were developing the citizen health records for Ukraine.
2. How do you get the items over so quickly?
We have been incredibly fortunate to have committed volunteers who travel to Poland and carry the items in their luggage. We bring duffel bags and suitcases filled with supplies, pay the extra luggage costs, and deliver the items ourselves. Once in Poland we contact 100% LIFE in Kyiv and they come to collect the supplies. It is extremely dangerous work and Ukrainian volunteers are driving all over the country to deliver these items. In late March, the driver who was supposed to meet the team was killed in a convoy of aid delivering supplies to the front lines. Someone quickly took his place.
3. How can we see your work?
For this project we have developed a TIK TOK page @tourniquets4Ukraine and that is also posted at www.HSToday.us. Additionally we have a Facebook page and are working under the auspices of www.LABUkraine.com, an organization building computer labs in Ukraine since 2017, and founded by my daughter.
4. What do you get out of this?
None of us are paid. I have paid my own way and donated from personal funds to make this journey happen. For me, it is once in a lifetime opportunity to make a real difference in people's lives.
Others are involved for various reasons – they see the injustice, they see the attack on innocent people, the attack on democracy. They are incensed and join our effort to express their disgust tangibly. You can see one of our volunteers talk about why she joined on Tik Tok and www.HSToday.us.
5. Is my donation tax deductible?
Our matching organization, World Hope International will provide you with a receipt that your donation is tax deductible if you donate through their site. I cannot promise one if you donate directly to this page, but rest assured that 100% of the donations recieved here will be used to support the refugees.
6. Seems like there are a lot of organizations involved – why is that?
This is a grass roots effort that is leveraging every connection possible to maximize our impact.
Links to the various organizations are provided for your verification needs.
www.WomeninHomelandSecurity.com
World Hope International | Hope for Ukraine!
Thank you for reading and thank you for any support to Ukraine.
Sincerely,
Sarah
