UPDATED STORY:
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!! We are back from our second trip! It was so amazing and so sad at the same time. We had 19 bags of our own, plus 2 carry-ons, and the Ukrainian Church from Long Island had 7 more. So we ended up with 28 bags! People were so happy to see us bringing the supplies they needed again, but they still need so much more! Now we are planning trip #3.
Hi, my name is Don Kelly, for people seeing this for the first time, I grew up in Ridgefield, CT, and I am a veteran of the US Marine Corps and the US Army. My wife was born in Ukraine and still has family living near Lviv and Kalush. We now live in Danbury, CT. We are two regular people trying to make a difference. We shipped our first batch of supplies less than a week after Russia invaded Ukraine.
We are in the process of organizing our third trip to deliver humanitarian supplies to people on the ground in Ukraine. We are doing this because much of the relief sent over doesn't always make it to the right people, especially body armor and tactical gear. We want to be sure that we can make a real difference, not just send a box of stuff and say, "well, we did our part". Nope, not in this house!
A few good logistical things came from our first two trips, especially streamlining our border crossing, flights, and drive times from Poland into Lviv and beyond.
I met so many amazing people, from my wife's family to the guys who are volunteering in the defense force, everyone was just great. It broke my heart not to be able to help more people.
So, we are going back AGAIN!!!
We have ordered more stuff from our AWESOME friends at Body Armor USA. ( https://www.bodyarmorusa.com/ ) Ben and Jonathan have been lifesavers for us; and from our new friends at Army Barracks in Newington, CT https://armybarracks.com/locations/army-barracks-newington-ct/ they have a great store, and they give a veterans discount! I still can't understand why the men and women fighting on the ground are desperate for body armor! It would seem like a basic piece of battle gear to me, but these people just can't get enough of it.
Once again I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped make the first trip a success and to those who continue to help make this next mission a bigger success. Please pass our message on to anyone who would like to help, or if anyone has supplies they need to get to family and friends near Lviv/Kalush, please get in touch with us before June 15th.
Thank you all in advance, God bless.
ps: We are still looking for first aid, rifle optics, and hiking/hunting gear that anyone would like to donate. Email me directly dek5138@gmail.com
Slava Ukraini!!!!
