Ukraine Refugee Assistance

To the left of the square was a fountain that wasn't in operation.  Inside that fountain was a 4-walled square

Continued

The second side of the wall was adorned with notes.  Many were written in foreign languages (other than Ukrainian) but a couple were written in English.

I couldn't think of anything more "Ukrainian" than a decorated hedgehog.

I decided early on in my reading of the flags that I wasn't going to sign my name.  But as I spent more time in the square I saw it less as an opportunity to self promote and more as an opportunity to show others support.  In re-reading the posts on the wall, I can see that's what they're asking for so I head back to the truck and I grab a "DniproExpress" sticker and slap it on a flag.  I sign my name and write the date.

Maybe the people that put the wall up will find their way to this thread some day.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

I don't even have the words, so I will just say thank you Bill, and thank you Vikki.

Thank you for all your help throughout this.  I see it every time you share these updates.  It's noticed and appreciated.

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

I decided early on in my reading of the flags that I wasn't going to sign my name.  But as I spent more time in the square I saw it less as an opportunity to self promote and more as an opportunity to show others support.  In re-reading the posts on the wall, I can see that's what they're asking for so I head back to the truck and I grab a "DniproExpress" sticker and slap it on a flag.  I sign my name and write the date.

Maybe the people that put the wall up will find their way to this thread some day.

I too feel like I don't deserve it. Its hard even for me to tell people what I'm doing sometimes with these things I'm donating, despite how funny it is for a late 20 year old man to be buying dozens of stuffed animals . It's imposter syndrome, I've dealt with it all through my EMS and medical careers. I still even get "prickly" when people call me a hero, it's like a visceral reaction to something I still see as a job.

I'm glad you put your sticker up, to show you're there and helping to. For all of us, even. I know you also, likely feel like you're not worthy of that word. But you are.

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

It is.  100%.  It happens to me at work as well.

It's so bad, I really have to work at taking any sort of compliments in person.  But yeah, I'm glad I went back and got a sticker.  I'm hoping it will catch someone's attention and they'll see there's a whole group of us dorks out here supporting them. 

The fight for freedom is the cause of all free men. We must all do what we can to push towards that brighter tomorrow. If that mrans charging into the fray with a rifle, Giving supplies to a medic, or making a sandwich for a hungry child, each is a small step in the right direction.

Do what you can with what you have for as long as you can.

There may yet be a heaven, but it isn't going to be perfect, and we're going to have to build it ourselves.

I walk the length of the road, down and back.  It's been over an hour at this point and I still don't really have a plan (and the road doesn't have any burned out tanks to see either).  There are a couple store fronts and I came to an unplanned stop in front of some of them while I was trying to rack my brain as to how to proceed.  Unlocking my phone, I check for wifi.  I'm getting a strong signal from KFC, and I cross my fingers while I try to connect (will they require a code from a receipt or something??)

Nope!  I'm connected!!!

Once I agree to their terms of service my phone updates and I can see I don't have a message from the Hospitallers.  Drat.

I try to make a whatsapp call, and there's no answer.  Double drat.

I hang up my phone and the notification comes in  "I'll drive to you.  Send me your location"

Sent

"I'll be there in 40-minutes"

Crap!  I gotta get all the stuff out of the truck!

I walk back to the truck and pull the boxes out.  We have the HUGE starlink box, and a not-small box of medical supplies for these guys (burn bandages, compression bandages, israeli bandages... All sorts of stuff you might need when someone is trying to put holes in you or blow you up).

It's a bit of a juggle, but if I carry the starlink box like a shelf, I can put the bandage box on top.  So that's what I do.

Let me tell ya, I had to stop about every chance I got on that walk back and set those things down and still my arms were BURNIN!!!   But I made it back to the meeting point with plenty of time to spare.  While we wait I got to thinking:

Somewhere, someone out there is probably wondering "can't you just send this stuff in?  Wouldn't it be cheaper to mail it?  Wouldn't it be easier if...?"  And right here I have an answer.

Certainly.  We could probably mail stuff in and we do mail stuff in from time to time (mostly when it's absolutely needed now, and we don't have enough for a "drive").  But I'm confident in saying that exactly NONE of this would be possible if that was all we did.

There's a reason I'm sending the Hospitallers my location and not the other way around.  Have you ever sent out a message and then lost control of it and watched in embarrassment or horror as it was shared all around the building or through your group of friends?  That could be the Hospitallers warehouse address.  If they send it to me, and I share it with someone I trust, and they share it with someone, well then how long before it gets targeted by a strike?

After my first visit to the Hospitallers almost a year ago, I was absolutely devastated the next Monday as I watched reports of a missile strike that splashed down in a field near their warehouse.  Worse yet, the representative I met wasn't answering my texts (are you ok???).  I wasn't sure if the strike location on the map I was seeing was accurate, or if the warehouse had actually been hit RIGHT AFTER I VISITED.

It turns out that the map wasn't accurate, but in our favor.  The missile landed in some farmer's field way out and away from the building and the person there had no idea why I was asking if they were ok (they did go see the strike later).  We got lucky.  Lucky that this place was in the middle of nowhere, because I've visited other houses where a "near miss" into one of the surrounding apartment buildings would be worse than a direct strike on the storage facility.

So I wait, and I'll work with any requests the Hospitallers have to get them this Starlink and these bandages.  These are going to do a lot of good, and getting them to their people is far more important than addresses or seeing the facilities.

Eventually I get the message.  "We're here.  Where are you?"

They're right behind me.  We open the boxes and they are stoked to have everything we brought.  They have a gift bag and they open it up.  It's their flag and they've signed it.  They also have a "Volunteer" patch to go with.  I'm speechless and we do a lot of hand shaking before saying goodbye.  The quick walk back to the truck is a blur, but I do take some pictures before head out:

The road out is just as eventful as the road in.  I make an attempt to set up a meet with a girl between here and Lviv, but the message never gets through.  She's a young girl who sells her art and uses the money to purchase military equipment for the soldiers.  When her father left to fight, he said he needed to go to protect her and Ukraine.  When he died in the fighting, she decided it was her job now to protect the soldiers.  Her mom runs her instagram account:

https://www.instagram.com/vasilevaira1522/

And her efforts got the attention of the President:  https://www.instagram.com/p/ChKbOhLtcWM/

My plan was to buy some of her items for raffle prizes for the next run.  I also kept a teddy bear back to give her (because even girls who protect soldiers need a teddy bear):

Ah well, maybe next time.  Or maybe she'll ship international...

At my fuel station stops (fewer and further between now) VikkiDp writes and Yaroslav has received his packages!

It's been years since I've done any circuit board work.  Back when I was making things, I'd buy extras of everything so I'd have what I needed any time I needed it.  I passed the whole collection on to Yaroslav.  This should set this kid up for all the years between now and wherever he decides to study next.  I sent a power converter to go with the Oscilloscope, and apologized for its control being in English.  I told him that if he couldn't use the goodies, then he should sell them and use the money to buy him and his mother something nice.  They deserve it.

Other packages are arriving as well, and VikkiDp is sending photos faster than I can drive.

The president of the Czech Republic must have been following along with us, because shortly after we left he visited Dnipro:

The sun overtakes me as I continue west and I'll stop for the night in the mountains.  Border crossings, gps issues, fuel worries, exhaustion... none of it stops just because the truck is empty.  But the sun has to set on this drive at some point.  I'll get home with one day left in my weekend to rest with the family before I head back to work next week.

And here's our girl.  Exactly as I left her from the long trip. 

And while I'm back and we're already talking about preparations for our next trip, here's what's happening back at the Prenatal center:

Thank you everyone. 

And here's from our children:

Thank you very, VERY much.

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

 

Oh my goodness!  Sorry, I'm just slowing down and am finally able to take in what's going on in the background of these pictures.  Yaroslav's Christmas tree that he made for his mom with the soldering kit we sent him is still on display in the background!!!

Sorry.  That made me really happy.

And that Rubix Cube there on the wall in the background!  That's canvas and paint we sent last Christmas!!!

That girl is a darn good artist!!!!

Sorry.  I am absolutely gushing at these...

Hungary Bill (On GoFundMe) said:

Ok guys, the run is done and pictures are posted.  I owe you a "by the numbers", so here goes:

This GoFundMe drive raised an impressive $2412USD.  Of that amount, this website deposited $2333.94USD into my bank account.

From that $2333.94, $1112.21 was spent on the Blood Pressure Monitoring System leaving us with $1221.73USD

Around this time, we received $700USD in local donations (Cash)

From that remaining $1221.73USD, an even $600 was withdrawn for the purchase of the Digital Microscope and $500 was added from our local cash donation to pay for the $1100 purchase.  We now have $621.73 in GoFundMe money and $200 in local cash.

To finish the local cash, 50 children received the Milka chocolate egg sets you see in the pictures.  Leaving us with $621.73 in GoFundMe money.

When our trip to Ukraine started, we had only received half of the remaining amount, and we spent $312 on the purchase of two large UV disinfectant lights.  We are now waiting for the final $309.73 from GoFundMe (There is a delay after I turn off donations for the last funds to arrive, and our trip was butted right up against this fundraiser)

Upon our return, we found the money had been deposited and immediately wired it (with no fees being subtracted from this drive) to Vikki in Dnipro.  She was able to order two more large UV disinfectant lights which have already been delivered to the Prenatal Center at the time of this writing.  This effectively drains 100% of our GoFundMe money and (still not counting bank fees) has us spending slightly less than $3 extra giving us a safe little buffer zone to make sure that none of the funds you donated went anywhere else but to where we said it would.

Now for the things we brought that came at no cost to this drive:

- The art supplies, playdough, sidewalk chalk, etc were all collected and sent by an individual member of the Grassroots Motorsports forum.  If you follow the link previously provided you can see the background coordination from that.

- The stuffed animals largely came from two places.  One was a local (Hungarian) individual who took it upon himself to fill two bags of stuffies.  The second was that same individual on Grassroots Motorsports, who shipped a very large box of stuffies across the ocean at his own expense.

- A starlink satellite system was donated to the Hospitallers, and it came from a fella we'll simply refer to as "The Yeti".  Again this was collected and shipped across the ocean at his own expense.  The forum he originates from is at the far "end" of the internet, and can't be accessed except by invitation (hence the secrecy, sorry).

- The box of burn bandages, compression bandages, israeli bandages, and all other combat medical supplies that we donated to the Hospitallers were collected by two Hungarian individuals who wanted to support their efforts.

Thank you guys for everything you did to make that run a success.  That was easily the most difficult fundraiser yet!

No time to rest now though, pen is on paper and we're already preparing for our August run.  Stay tuned!

Hey Bill,

I missed the last fundraiser, but what's the best method of getting in on the next?  I'm assuming Putin won't suddenly see the error of his ways before then and now, unfortunately.

As always, you're a good person!

WonkoTheSane said:

Hey Bill,

I missed the last fundraiser, but what's the best method of getting in on the next?  I'm assuming Putin won't suddenly see the error of his ways before then and now, unfortunately.

 

As always, you're a good person!

Unfortunately I think you're correct, and thank you for helping.

The paypal is always open (will grow and the number 3 (all in one block) at the mail that starts with a G dot com).  In fact, if you wanted to send a UV lamp to the hospital I bet Vikki and I could make that happen.  Just attach a note, and we'll take care of the rest.  Big lamps are $153USD and they need 5ea (we've donated 4ea at this point).  Small lamps are $112usd ea, and they need 47ea.  This will be the main focus of our next GoFundMe, set to open near June 1st.

Alternatively, both Girthquake and 84FSP are collecting donations and have ways of shipping them across the pond for us.  School supplies, art supplies, and stuffed animals I think are their biggest hit list.  The prenatal center could also use baby clothes (Newborn and a couple sizes up).  It might be worth contacting them directly if you wanted to contribute to that effort.

The Hospitallers are in need of the following two items:
300 pairs:  https://www.narescue.com/hyfin-vent-chest-seal-twin-pack.html
200ea:  https://www.narescue.com/ars-for-needle-decompression-3-25.html

I can order both locally, but their cost triples when purchased from the local market.

If I were to assign priority at this point in time, I would put the prenatal center's needs and the school supply/stufie collection first. 

Our next run isn't until August, but we're starting early in an effort to fill a second vehicle for this trip.

Girthquake:

Still no word back from Ira with the art therapy.  Regarding the sidewalk chalk:  Is it packaged or loose?  If it's packaged I can bring it into Ukraine for the children in Dnipro.  If it's loose/bulk, it might be tougher to package and distribute.

It was a crazy and at the same time awesome run!!! And it was an incredible run!!!

MANY thanks to everyone who made this possible  

Bill thank you for all your efforts and everything you do!!!

Of course - I'll also write a few words about this trip - I really hope to have some free time this weekend  

Bill we need to hold a raffle - the stamps are waiting for their recipients  

Some news about Ukraine - i would like to share this with you 

If you remember Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest last year and since it is impossible to hold this event in Ukraine (everyone understands why).

the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is being held in England in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine - several videos touched my heart and made me cry 

This intro

and this duet, Alyosha is our Ukrainian singer

I'd like to ask you if you have friends in Europe , ask them to vote for Ukraine - I think it will be cool if the contest will be held in Ukraine next year 

and this video from an American band Imagine Dragons