Action for Ukrainian Refugees

April 6, 2022   This time, I am the guardian angel.   I define a "guardian angel" as someone who appears at the right moment to help another person in need. On April 4th I wrote about a guardian angel (young man) who reached out to help us find the train station at precisely the right time.  Today, I experienced what it's like to be a guardian angel. When I walked up to the information table in the refugee reception center, I heard a volunteer tell a family of four that he didn't have enough room in his car/van for them.  He was very apologetic as he shook his head, and I could see that the family was very disappointed. I asked him where they wanted to go and he said, "Krakow." I said, "I'm going to Krakow, and I can take all of them!" You should have seen the smiles on their faces. At first their spirits were deflated. Ten seconds later, they were elated, quite an extreme mood swing. From the translator that I used on the phone, I learned tha...

April 7, 2022   "Providing food is telling them that we care."   Today I bought another $546.13 worth of food for orphans in Ukraine. Vasily, my contact person at Caritas-Ukraine, an aid organization that provides shelter to orphans and displaced persons, told me that he asked the children what food they most missed and wanted.  They said breakfast sausages (parowki) and candy.  So I bought a ton of parowki and bags of candy to take with me to Ukraine tomorrow. I guess I didn't mention that I am going to visit a country that is in the midst of a brutal war.  It was never my intention to go into Ukraine because of the inherent dangers involved, but I have been assured that it is safe in the western regions of Ukraine, particularly along the Polish border. Vasily thought it would be important for me to visit the shelters they run and particularly, the orphanage. As I understand it, the orphans were brought from all over Ukraine due to the dangers of the war, and ...

  April 8, 2022 I step foot into a war-torn country for the first time.   As I mentioned in my last post, I never envisioned going into Ukraine during this trip. I didn't know how dangerous it would be, nor what I would do in the country as a volunteer. However, Lifting Hands International recommended Vasily, coordinator of shipments of food and supplies for Caritas-Ukraine, as someone who might be able to use my services. In previous posts I related how I purchased two shipments of food and delivered them to warehouses in Poland where they would then be picked up and delivered to a warehouse in Ukraine. Vasily invited me to come to Ukraine to see how the food that I donated would make its way into the hands of the residents of shelters. That was an invitation that I couldn't pass up. He assured me that the western region of Poland is the safest because of its proximity to Poland, a member of the European Union and NATO. The cities and villages on the Ukrainian side look virtu...

April 10, 2022   A former Stanford student gets trapped in Ukraine and starts a food delivery program.   Vasily grew up in eastern Ukraine and attended Stanford University for two years, and he eventually established residency in Atlanta. He was visiting family and friends in Ukraine and bought his airline ticket home for the morning of February 24.  At 4:00 a.m. he was awoken by the sound of missiles exploding in his city and he, along with thousands of residents, scrambled in a panicked state looking for shelter or a way to escape.  He described the situation as utter chaos as thousands of cars clogged up the roads leading out of his city.  At first, he tried to buy a train ticket to escape the hell, but all the seats were sold out.  His flight to Atlanta was canceled, so he literally ran for miles to the outskirts of the city where he was picked up by his cousin in a car.  They drove west to the border where he tried to cross into Poland but one hou...

April 12, 2022   I made it home safe and sound last night, experiencing a whirlwind of emotions. This will be my final post and I will share some random news, thoughts, and impressions. 1.     The rental car company will not be happy when they see that I drove their new car 8,850 kilometers (5,500 miles) in only two weeks. After subtracting about 500 miles for personal use, I estimate that I drove 5,000 miles in 14 days transporting Ukrainian families (an average of 357 miles/day). 2.     In spite of deep polarization of political views throughout the world, it is heartening to see people from all backgrounds come together in a caring and compassionate manner to support those suffering the effects of war. Thousands of volunteers and scores of aid agencies rushed to Ukraine and neighboring countries as soon as the images of the women and children appeared in the news. I saw countless examples of kindness on the part of the volunteers. The prevailing at...