A third weekend of May is the time when East 7th Street turns blue and yellow and New Yorkers are heading to the annual St. George Ukrainian Festival. The festival celebrates culture and beauty of Ukraine featuring a variety of traditional food, clothing, arts and crafts, music and so much more.
After three years of quarantine, our famous yellow couch and Face Box were back at the Razom Lounge. Face Box by celebrated cartoonist Sashko Danylenko was a unique opportunity to get a portrait created with the help of unique biological intelligence technology all while helping Ukraine through your donations. While the yellow couch this year hosted congresswoman C. Maloney with Consul General of Ukraine O. Golubov and everyone who dropped by to experience Razom’s atmosphere.
This year Razom Lounge featured the Individual First Aid Kits (IFAK) and guests were able to add a personal note to the heroes at the frontlines that went into a postcard inside IFAKs. As Ukraine is a winner of the 2022 Eurovision song contest, at Razom Lounge one could meet and converse with our volunteers, who were working at the Eurovision’s press center amplifying the voice of Ukraine to the world.
While at the Lounge one could pick up a custom made in a bomb shelter art piece, a sticker, postcard, poster, pin or a t-shirt. And have a blitz game of chess with the young prodigy. Engage in dialogues with the special guests and the Razom team, and so much more.
With the help of 30+ volunteers and everyone who stopped by we were able to raise around $10,000 for the Emergency Response. We thank all the friendly faces and all volunteers who worked many hours under the New York City’s sun – fueled by Veselka‘s raspberry lemonades and Plast NYC cold borshch – for the beautiful weekend full of love and laughter, all for a great cause of standing with Ukraine. We hope to see you at our upcoming events and the Razom Lounge next year.
Razom Lounge is an annual traditional event organized under our Razom Culture initiative, which promotes Ukrainian culture and spirit in the US and around the world.
Russia’s unjustified and brutal war against Ukraine has centered the importance of good journalism. And the New York Times newsroom has provided excellent coverage for the duration of the war. On May 19, the newsroom released more footage of an execution in Bucha, providing much-needed evidence of Russian war crimes.
This makes the recent piece released by the New York Times Editorial Board questioning the United States’ readiness to support a Ukrainian victory all the more pronounced. It seems that, again, the New York Times Editorial Board has undermined its own newsroom’s critical reporting with an irresponsible, out-of-touch, and poorly reasoned editorial demonstrating anything but expertise on Ukraine and on Russia’s colonial violence in the region.
The editorial rightly states that “it is the Ukrainians who must make the hard decisions.” Unfortunately, the authors then undercut this call for self-determination by outlining what those decisions should be: concessions of territory to Russia in order to end the war. This is an idea based on the false premise that Russia will honor any sort of ceasefire or security guarantees, and halt atrocities on the territories it controls. Thus, the Editorial Board accepts the horrific, criminal, and genocidal treatment of Ukrainians that will take place on Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, all in the name of a “negotiated peace.” With Russia’s flagrant violations of the Minsk Agreements as precedent, this “peace” would in fact condemn Ukraine to a permanent state of war. The Board claims to support the message that, no matter how long it takes, Ukraine will be free. But if all of Ukraine is not free, Ukraine is not free.
In the face of an equivocating dictator with no regard for diplomatic efforts—and an army that continues to slaughter, terrorize, and rape civilians of all ages—Ukrainians have made the “difficult decision” to fight and defend their homeland and the values we in the West hold as our birthright. It remains unclear on what grounds the Editorial Board envisions a negotiated settlement with a despot, war criminal, fascist, and “butcher” (in the words of the editorial itself)—who regularly calls Ukraine statehood a fiction. The repeated insinuations that Ukraine will have to make “hard decisions” and make the “painful territorial” concessions that these would demand are head-scratching, not least because the Board, in the very same piece, (aptly) identifies Putin as an “aggrieved, volatile despot who has shown little inclination toward a negotiated settlement.”
And so, if we heed the paternalistic calls of the Board to “shake off the euphoria” and stop “chasing” a win, what does that look like for the millions of Ukrainians who are and will be living under a brutal Russian occupation with genocidal intent?
The editorial itself is rife with poor reasoning and contradictions. But the insidious insinuations are of particular concern and damage. Continued support of Ukraine allegedly carries “extraordinary costs and serious dangers,” and yet the dangers enumerated—a threatful Russia grasping at straws—persist and endanger more without Western resolve to help Ukraine defend itself. Any attempt of appeasement, by that or any other name, bears “extraordinary costs and serious dangers” when the receiving end is a fascist regime by every possible metric. We have, unfortunately, amassed a large “dataset” specific to what that may look like, what happens when the West bargains with Putin’s aggression. In each instance, we embalm a war. In each instance, we get a more serious, more brazen instance of violence and war that follows.
The Board presents itself as a group of journalists whose views are informed by expertise. But Ukrainians are all too familiar with people who claim expertise on Ukraine based on years in Moscow bureaus and degrees in Russian studies. Too many experts on Russia, many of whom have rebranded themselves as Ukraine experts, see Ukraine as a subsection of their fields, claiming to know Ukraine because they know Russia. This is the root of the problem. You cannot see Ukraine from Moscow.
In characterizing a Ukrainian victory as unrealistic and the amassing Ukrainian successes as “stunning,” the Board shows its own misguided character. For those who keep their eye on Moscow and have only seen Ukraine on the periphery, Ukrainian resolve, victory in an entire theater of war, and continuing successes at pushing back an invasion on a scale not seen since the Second World War have, no doubt, been surprising and unbelievable. But—to Ukrainians, to those Western analysts that forewent colonial and imperial frameworks for understanding Eastern Europe and those formerly under Soviet domination, to those of us that see Ukraine as a truly independent and dignified people and not a mere vector of Russian power projections—Ukrainian successes do not come as a surprise. And we know that, with the necessary support from the United States, Europe, and the international community, Ukraine will win this war.
Ukraine has made the “hard decision” to oppose the extermination of its people in Russian-occupied territories and to fight for all its freedom and all its people. US support, whether extended or not, will not prevent Ukraine from negotiating a peace if it ever became an option. But it will determine whether Ukraine has what it needs to keep fighting for what Ukrainians deserve and what we believe in. It’s now up to us to make sure we support them in this.
It’s important to remember that in Ukraine, rockets don’t choose where to fall, so the wounds of civilians and soldiers are the same. As we enter day 83 of the war that should have never happened, we are eager to share how your generous donations to Razom help save lives in Ukraine.
Dear Razom community,
To date, there have been over 300 events hosted worldwide benefiting Razom. At one point, GoFundMe had 91 fundraisers for Razom live on its platform. Today, we’ve had over 120,000 donors support our work, with the average donation being under $300 and the largest single donation being $1M. That means that tens of thousands of you took individual action to help Ukraine. We know we have yet to acknowledge and sincerely thank every one of you, but we promise to get there soon! In the meantime, Razom continues to focus on converting all of those generous donations into something that saves lives as fast as possible. The following are some highlights of that work:
Here is a screenshot of a testimonial sent to one of our TacMed Team leaders, Tonya, from a doctor at a Chernivtsi Emergency Hospital where a lot of wounded (including children) are sent ->
To date, Razom has delivered 100 hospital grade wound vac machines across hospitals in Ukraine, and 220 more are on their way from Sweden right now! We’ve also procured 1,000 manual emergency wound vacs, plus dressings, that will be making their way to Ukraine in the next few weeks.
Below is a photo of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (ДСНС) utilizing one of the civilian drones Razom procured and delivered to Kharkiv in their process of demining the city. Kharkiv is one of the most mined places in Ukraine (and the world) right now, slowing down reconstruction efforts and risking the lives of tens of thousands of people. Using drones to locate mines increases safety in the process and decreases the long hours it takes to do this work. Razom is working to deliver more of this tech enabled humanitarian aid in the right hands in Ukraine.
Given humanitarian needs change by the hour and come from multiple geographical points at the same time, Razom awards grants to grassroots initiatives in Ukraine who are responding quickly to the needs of civilians and internally displaced persons. The program has grown significantly in the past weeks:
Volonterska UA was awarded $30,000 to deliver food and medicines to the elderly and people with disabilities in Kharkiv. Their call center receives 1,000 calls daily and has built up a team that can process 300-350 requests per day.
Ukrainian Charity Alliance was awarded $16,000 to create and deliver over 780 kits of food essentials that have a long shelf life for civilians with low mobility in the Kharkiv region. They also provided humanitarian aid for shelters housing those that lost their homes in the bombing and occupation of regions surrounding Kharkiv. World-renowned poet, writer, native-Kharkivian, and Razom partner, Serhiy Zhadan visited some of those shelters to help deliver aid.
The Korsaks’ Museum of Ukrainian Modern Art in Lutsk was awarded $16,000 to help operate a shelter for evacuees and refugees in Ukraine. In April alone, they provided shelter for 12,983 IDPs, including 120 permanent residents (all 30 days) and 1,163 temporary residents (4 days on average). They converted a section of Adrenalin City (the local Lutsk mall) and adjacent hostel into a shelter filled with beautiful modern art from the museum founder’s personal collection. The group runs frequent art, craft, yoga, breathing, dancing, and performance art workshops for kids and adults, providing ample opportunity for IDPs to rehabilitate and recover.
The latest tally from our Hospitals Team is that an estimated $7.5M worth of in-kind donations of medicine and medical supplies have been made thanks to organizations like Americares, MedShare, Partners for World Health, Direct Relief, and companies like Figs and Cabinet Health. Razom has successfully delivered $3.7M worth of those donations to Ukraine.
For example this week, 2,000 IFAKs donated by Direct Relief arrived in Razom’s warehouse in Ukraine and are ready for distribution.
The team also sorted through 8 pallets of individual in-kind donations at our New Jersey warehouse and reconfigured 3 pallets of the most urgent supplies to ship to Ukraine asap.
Razom’s Head of Major & Transformational Gifts, Olena Nyzhnykevych, took to the keynote stage at KubeCon in Spain this week to talk about what Razom is, how we’ve grown, what we’re working on as we scale up, and educate the open source and cloud native community about what Ukraine is going through right now. There were 7,000 people in attendance in person and over 10,000 online.
After three years, the St. George Ukrainian Festival is back in NYC which means that the famous Razom yellow couch and Face Box are back too! Come join the Razom Lounge this Saturday and Sunday to learn all about our work in delivering aid and advocacy, pack some IFAKs, participate in an art workshop, and be together. Before we open up the Lounge though, we’ll be marching on the Brooklyn Bridge. Join us for the “Live Chain for Ukraine” on Saturday 5/21 at 12pm on theManhattan or Brooklyn side of the bridge and meet in the middle. Spread the word, we will need a lot of people to make this a powerful event!
If you can’t be in New York City this weekend, there are so many other events around the country (including virtually!) to look forward to:
On Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11 at the Ukrainian Museum, Director and Producer Andrea Odezynska debuts her new feature-length environmental documentary, Return Sasyk to the Sea, which spotlights the destructive legacy Ukraine inherited as a former member of the Soviet Union. 6/10 tickets here and 6/11 here.
In Illinois: Today, May 20 at 6:30pm, theCobra Lounge in Chicago will host a benefit show titled “Punks For Ukraine” with all proceeds from ticket sales going to Razom.
In Connecticut: On May 21, a local group of runners in Cheshire, CT are hosting a 5K run/walk in their town to fundraise for Razom. Learn more info on how to join them or contribute to their GoFundMe page go here.
In California: On Sat, May 28, the Riviera Village on Redondo Beachwill have over 14 businesses donating 20% of their proceeds to Razom.
In Virginia: On June 24from 6-19pm the Beach Gallery in Virginia Beach is hostinga Hope for Ukraine Art Show & Silent Auction with all proceeds going to either Razom or the World Central Kitchen.
Razom has significantly scaled and refined its operations in the past few weeks and we are so excited to share how the impact of that work and your donations grows. We’ve also been hard at work advocating for Ukraine in the US and ask for your support below. Each one of us can do something for Ukraine today, this weekend, and next week, so let’s get to it!
Dear Razom community,
Razom is always here, moving the needle to get us closer to Ukraine’s victory. The war is still ongoing and there is still a lot of work to be done now that we’re 70 days in. We need your support and we humbly share with you all that we’re able to accomplish thanks to your generosity . Let’s keep it up!
Three ambulances recently made it to Donbas to help care for the wounded on the front lines of the war there. These ambulances made their way from Wales in England to Donbas in partnership with the United Ukraine Foundation in the UK. Razom also helped outfit them with tourniquets, IFAKs, other important life-saving medicines, and 30 sets of uniforms to the firefighters of Kryvyi Rih.
Here’s the final tally of the work the TacMed Team at Razom accomplished in just one week (5/2/22 – 5/7/22):
Volunteers built and shipped 8,000+ IFAKs, potentially saving 8,000 or more limbs, or even lives. The approximate value of them is $600,000.
Volunteers built and shipped 40 fully loaded tactical medical backpacks
These included 20,000 packs of QuikClot Combat Gauze, which are top of the line and extremely hard to procure these days, but of course Razom TacMed team secured them!
It took 108 volunteers to get this much work done in one week. We when we say urgent, we’re not kidding! When we say #razom (“together”), we’re serious!
We also shipped out several pallets of medical supplies, and items such as sleeping bags, stretchers, splints, tourniquets, stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, and burn treatment kits.
We started an initiative to include kids’ drawings, postcards, and letters packed into the IFAKs to encourage Ukrainian heroes. If you or your children would like to contribute in this way, please send to:
ENCOURAGE Ukraine 57 Beach Street, Suite 306 Staten Island, NY 10304
Meanwhile the Razom volunteers working at the warehouse across the ocean in Ukraine managed to distribute for shipment 40 orders of aid in onlyone day. To date, Razom has processed over 600 aid requests from hospitals, field hospitals, and territorial defense units across Ukraine.
So far this month, the MedGlobal team in collaboration with Razom and UMANA have trained over 150 doctors across 6 hospitals in Ukraine totaling 40 hours of trainings. All of the hospitals visited are receiving wounded civilians and military patients, some as many as 40 such patients per day. Training topics covered polytrauma, triage, FAST exam, blast injury, among others.
One of those butterfly ultrasounds that the MedGlobal team donated saved a life this month. It uncovered pneumothorax in a patient, something that’s not visible on an x-ray.
What’s one way you can advocate for Ukraine today?
Join us in support of a proposal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for more disclosure about russian operations by US public companies. Razom signed the petition along with the Ukrainian-American Bar Association, Natalie Jaresko (former Finance Minister of Ukraine), and assistance from Andrii (Andrey) Galiuk from StopBusinessWithRussia initiative.
It’s simple – russian taxes are funding the war in Ukraine, and we need more transparency. The world is watching, Ukrainians are watching.
The Razom Advocacy Team is monitoring closely the advancement of the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act in the amount of $39 billion.
This is where we need your help!
The Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act will be up for a vote in the Senate soon and we want to make sure Senators know how their constituents – YOU – feel about passing the bill. Click here to find out why this bill is important and needs your support, and click here to find out how to call your Senators and what to say to them. Let’s help Ukraine win the war, together.
People around the world continue to be inspired by the perseverance and creativity of brave Ukraine and are coming together to do what they can to help. Below is a roundup of events that fundraise for specific causes for Ukraine or expose you to amazing Ukrainian art and culture.
In New York:
Today, Friday, May 13 at 7pm at the Ukrainian Museum, Yara artists will perform and read newest poems by Serhiy Zhadan directed by Virlana Tkacz. Serhiy Zhadan was born in Luhansk oblast of Ukraine and educated in Kharkiv where he lives today. He is the most popular poet of the post-independence generation in Ukraine, the author of twelve books of poetry that have earned him numerous national and European awards, and his charitable foundation has been a formal Razom partner for several years.
On Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11 at the Ukrainian Museum, Director and Producer Andrea Odezynska debuts her new feature-length environmental documentary, Return Sasyk to the Sea, which spotlights the destructive legacy Ukraine inherited as a former member of the Soviet Union. 6/10 tickets here and 6/11 here.
Online: On May 17 DevOpsDays Ukraine (part of the global DevOpsDays family) is hosting a virtual conference benefiting Razom to to discuss DevOps during crisis, incident, and business continuity management and share Ukrainian DevOps expertise.
In Texas:This weekend Art of Peace, a group of Houstonians collaborating to help Ukrainian people, is hosting an art exhibition featuring 30 local artists with part of the proceeds benefiting Razom.
In Washington D.C.: On May 17 the US-Ukraine Foundation is hosting a fundraising event featuring Eurovision star, Roxolana, titled “Taking Back Z.”
In Connecticut: On May 21, a local group of runners in Cheshire, CT are hosting a 5K run/walk in their town to fundraise for Razom. Learn more info on how to join them or contribute to their GoFundMe page go here.
In California: On Sat, May 28, the Riviera Village on Redondo Beachwill have over 14 businesses donating 20% of their proceeds to Razom.
In Virginia: On June 24from 6-19pm the Beach Gallery in Virginia Beach is hostinga Hope for Ukraine Art Show & Silent Auction with all proceeds going to either Razom or the World Central Kitchen.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter and continuing to #StandWithUkraine.
It is a sad fact but fraudsters and scammers are prevalent on the Internet these days. They are feeding on extreme emotions and lure their victims to either donate or click on malicious links in the emails. Unfortunately Ukraine has been such subject most recently.
Since Russia-Ukrainian war, we received many reports of attackers setting up websites that resemble Razom brand and attempting to collect money on our behalf. We have been mostly successful at taking them down with the help of our lawyers.
In the past couple of days we have received a number of emails from website visitors informing us of a message popping up in their web browsers notifying them that “This Connection Is Not Private”.
We want to clear up the confusion and let you know that what is depicted was rather a technical issue which we successfully fixed with the help of our IT professionals. This technical issue in no way meant that any part of Razom’s website was compromised.
Please remember to double check that you are on the correct Razom page, and here is the list of official Razom resources:
If you see any suspicious websites or social media accounts that impersonate Razom for Ukraine, and are different from our official pages above – please notify us at info@razomforukraine.org. Thank you!
Representatives of different U.S.-based ethnic organizations call on Congress to support additional financial aid to Ukraine, in the form of the 33 billion dollar emergency supplemental request announced by President Joe Biden on April 28, 2022. A corresponding call to action was made by activists during a press conference in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, May 5, 2022.
The organizers of the event were local Ukrainian-American community organizations Razom for Ukraine and United Help Ukraine. Other US ethnic, religious, and human rights associations participated in the press conference. In particular, leaders of Polish, Baltic, Syrian, Afghan, and religious organizations were present.
“We, Poles and Polish-Americans, know very well the horrors of war–we’ve lived through this ourselves. And we also understand that the Ukrainians’ fight today is not only about their fight for their own country and their own freedom and sovereignty–which is very important–but also the fight for the freedom of all of Europe,”said Klara Wiśniewska, the spokeswoman for the Polish American Congress, in an interview with the Voice of America correspondent. She added “I am very happy to report that our organization has collected a quarter of a million dollars for displaced Ukrainians.”
Klara Wiśniewska, the spokeswoman for the Polish American CongressHurunnessa Fariad, Director of Outreach at Multi-faith Neighbors NetworkYaro Hetman, Senior Director of Innovation at Compassion International
According to the activists, most of the ethnic groups represented were forced to flee dictatorship and war in their own countries one time or another, so today they would like to unite in support of Ukraine.
“The Syrian community, Muslim community, and all beleivers are with you. This is a “just war” – you are defending your country and your dignity. I’ve been to Lviv twice since the war began. Together with a team of doctors from my organization MedGlobal, we trained doctors and nurses in Ukraine. When Ukrainian doctors, officers, and representatives of the Ministry of Health learned that I had delivered medical aid in Syria, above all else they asked for us to prepare them for the probable use of chemical weapons,” commented Dr. Zaher Sahloul, representative of the American Coalition of Syria and President of MedGlobal (an international non-profit organization that provides medical services to the world’s most vulnerable groups).
Dr. Zaher Sahloul, representative of the American Coalition of Syria and President of MedGlobal Director of Ops at Human First Coalition and AfghanEvac
During the press conference, organizers of the event announced the creation of an “American Coalition in Support of Ukraine,” which would unite different community groups in the U.S. Additionally, they announced the opening of Razom for Ukraine’s representative office in Washington, D.C. “We have daily meetings with representatives, with politicians, so now we have official representation here in Washington – this is our first piece of news. The second – the creation of an American coalition in support of Ukraine. We want to unite all these people, communities, organizations, and institutions which already support Ukraine – so that we can cooperate together and have coordinated messaging, so that we can utilize all our channels to further the support of Ukraine,” announced Maryna Prykhodko, a Razom for Ukraine board member.
Організаторами події виступили місцеві американсько-українські громадські організації Razom for Ukraine та United Help Ukraine. До заяви також долучились етнічні, релігійні та правозахисні спільноти в США. Зокрема лідери польських, балтійських, сирійських, афганських та релігійних об’єднань.
“Ми, поляки та американські поляки, дуже добре знаємо жахи війни, ми самі це пережили. І ми також розуміємо, що нинішня боротьба українців – це не лише боротьба за свою країну за свою свободу та суверенітет, що дуже важливо, але це також боротьба за свободу усієї Європи, – розповідає кореспондентці Голосу Америки Клара Вишневська, представниця Польсько-американського конгресу у США і також додає, – Я рада повідомити, що наша організація зібрала чверть мільйона доларів для українських переселенців”.
За словами активістів, більшість етнічних груп у США були змушені тікати від диктатури, та війни у власних державах, тому сьогодні вони хочуть об’єднатись на підтримку України.
“Сирійська громада, мусульманська громада та усі віруючі люди – з вами. Це “справедлива війна”, – ви захищаєте свою країну і свою гідність. Я був у Львові двічі від початку війни. Разом із командою лікарів моєї організації MedGlobal ми навчали лікарів та медсестер в Україні. Коли українські лікарі, офіцери та представники Міністерства охорони здоров’я дізнались, що я надавав медичну допомогу в Сирії, вони зокрема просили підготувати їх до ймовірного застосування хімічної зброї”, – коментує Голосу Америки доктор Захер Салул, представник американської коаліції Сирії та президент медичної організації MedGlobal (міжнародна некомерційної організації, яка надає медичні послуги найбільш уразливим групам населення світу)
Під час акції організатори події оголосили про створення “Американської коаліції на підтримку України”, яка об’єднає різні національні групи в США. А також повідомили про відкриття представництва “Razom for Ukraine” у столиці США, Вашингтоні.”Ми маємо щоденні зустрічі із представниками, із політиками тож тепер ми маємо офіційне представництво тут, у Вашингтоні, – це наша перша новина і друга це – створення американської коаліції на підтримку України. Ми хочемо б’єднати усіх цих людей, громади, організації, інституції, які вже й так підтримують Україну. Для того, щоб ми спільно співпрацювали і мали однакові меседжі, щоб ми використовували усі наші канали для подальшої підтримки України”, – повідомила Голосу Америки Марина Приходько, членкиня ради директорів ГО Razom For Ukraine.
Maryna Baydyuk, Assistant Research Professor at Huang Lab; Assistant Research Professor at Georgetown UniversityAlex Kuzma, Executive Director at Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation
However, this is not enough for Ukraine to sustain itself in total war. Ukraine needs security and economic assistance to defeat russian aggression and provide basic commodities to people impacted by the war and russia’s incessant attacks on civilian areas.
As President Joe Biden announced in his May 9 statement, shortly after signing the groundbreaking Lend Lease Act for Ukraine, “I have nearly exhausted the resources given to me by a bipartisan majority in Congress to support Ukraine’s fighters. This aid has been critical to Ukraine’s success on the battlefield.”
The U.S. Congress is responsible for approving the spending of the U.S. Government, and the U.S. Administration may ask for additional money beyond approved budgets and spending schedules when the need for funds is too urgent to be postponed until the next regular annual appropriations act.
In light of this, U.S. President Joe Biden has requested the U.S. Congress to promptly pass the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act in the amount of $39 billion. This Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act is an emergency supplemental budget; many similar bills have been proposed and passed before, providing necessary funding for U.S. initiatives, both domestic and international.
In order to keep Ukraine in the fight for democracy and freedom, Ukraine needs about $10 billion a year in assistance from its strategic partners, according to conservative estimates. However, a $39 billion supplemental budget for Ukraine would be a gamechanger, and, according to President Biden’s May 9 statement, the amount includes “military, economic, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine,” adding that “the plan was substantial in size, because the need is substantial: we must stand by Ukraine as it defends itself from Russian aggression.”
But there’s also good news on the horizon. On May 10, the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act passed the House. The next step is to have the Senate pass the bill.
What can you do to help the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act pass?
First, find your Senators. It is important that Senators hear from their constituents – the people that they represent, so please enter the zip code where you’re registered to vote.
Second, call your Senator. Yes, calling is important. Someone from the Senator’s office may pick up and write down your message, or you may have to leave a voice message. This is normal and part of the process. Click here for more detailed instructions and a sample text.
Third, in your message to your Senator, state your name and your zip code. Thank your Senator for their continued support of Ukraine and convey that their support of Ukraine is of utmost importance to you. Feel free to list a few reasons why you support Ukraine, i.e. you’re a Ukrainian-American, you believe in Ukraine’s fight for freedom and against tyranny, or you know someone currently in Ukraine who is affected by the war.
Fourth, urge your Senator to do everything they can to pass the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act as soon as possible.
That’s it! Thank you for being an advocate for Ukraine and using your democratic right to voice your concerns and priorities to the U.S. Government to help save lives and defend democracy.
We hit 120,000 donors this week and it’s absolutely amazing. The diversity of Razom’s network reflects the diversity of all the work we’re able to accomplish with your generous contributions. We are all moving towards the same goal — Ukraine’s victory, and we’re doing it Razom. Let’s keep it up.
Dear Razom community,
Ukraine is winning, big aid is moving, Razom’s impact is growing, but the war is still ongoing. There is an incredible amount of work to be done. Our volunteers, colleagues, and partners in Ukraine share this daily. We are forever grateful for the support of our individual donors, and today, ask you to consider making another donation to Razom, no matter how big or small. We need your support to keep going.
Your contributions have real impact on the lives of Ukrainians. Here’s a snapshot of some of the things we were able to accomplish this week:
Razom’s Hospitals Team shipped an entire pallet worth of antibiotics thanks to a $10,000 grant from Morristown Medical Center received by fellow Razom volunteer and pharmacist Oksana Lytvyn.
The team also obtained one pallet worth of sutures donated by Surgeon Ilkana M Gaffar on behalf of Kings County Hospital.
To date, Razom has invested $925,362 into its logistical chain.
MedGlobal is in Lviv again for their second medical mission in partnership with Razom and UMANA. They brought with them 150 suitcases of medical supplies and several more Butterfly Ultrasounds to donate to hospitals across Ukraine. They continue to provide important training on trauma care and chemical warfare.
Sometimes local NGOs and informal volunteer initiatives are best positioned to provide timely response to humanitarian needs that change by the hour and come from multiple geographical points at the same time, like they do in Ukraine. That’s why Razom developed a grant program that awards grassroots initiatives in Ukraine to help civilians in hot zones. Here’s some of what they’ve been able to accomplish:
Groups like Rescue Now and Жовта допомога Харкiв (2 of our 16 grant recipients) provide basic humanitarian aid (food, hygiene products, medicines etc.) to people in Kharkiv oblast, especially in recently liberated cities, towns, and villages in the region.
Chernihiv in northern Ukraine suffered terribly at the beginning of the invasion and charity organization, З покликом у серці, is delivering aid to the region that was occupied for weeks without access to the supplies people desperately needed.
TAPS Dnipro provided 7,148 aid packages to internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the Dnipro Volunteer IDP Center which receives on average 1,300 IDPs daily. They used their $20,000 Razom Grant to deliver nine 20-ton trucks with humanitarian aid from Germany, Romania, Baltic States, Lviv and Vinnytsa. With this investment we were able to support the center’s operations for an entire week.
Razom held two press conferences on the same day this week, one in Lviv, Ukraine and another in Washington D.C.
In Ukraine, it was important that we amplify our reach so that we continue building out the network of people who need help and organizations that need partnership support. You can watch the press conference here (it’s in Ukrainian) moderated by former Ambassador to Ukraine from Canada Andrij Shevchenko and featuring Razom Board Member Lyuba Shipovich, Razom dlia Ukraini Director Evelina Kurilets, and “Children We Will Make It” co-founder (and current head of Razom volunteer drivers) Vitalii Svichynskyi.
The D.C. press conference brought together community leaders from Ukrainian organizations and partners from ethnic, religious, and human rights groups to voice their support for Ukraine. Razom, United Help Ukraine, U.S. Ukrainian activists, and leaders of Polish, Baltic, Syrian, Afghan, Jewish, Muslim and human rights groups spoke all together in front of the White House. You can watch it here.
Razom also announced its intent to launch the American Coalition for Ukraine and deliver a Joint Statement on the Emergency Supplemental Appropriation for Ukraine. You can find the full statement here.
This is group advocacy work that everyone can take part in. The $33B emergency supplemental aid package for Ukraine is currently awaiting congressional approval. Call up your representatives so they know you support this package to get Ukraine closer to victory now.
People around the world continue to be inspired by the perseverance and creativity of brave Ukraine and are coming together to do what they can to help. Below is a roundup of events that fundraise for specific causes for Ukraine or expose you to amazing Ukrainian art and culture.
On Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11 at the Ukrainian Museum, Director and Producer Andrea Odezynska debuts her new feature-length environmental documentary, Return Sasyk to the Sea, which spotlights the destructive legacy Ukraine inherited as a former member of the Soviet Union. 6/10 tickets here and 6/11 here.
Online:
Today, Friday May 6 is the last day to catch the International Muses Marathon to raise funds for Voices of Children featuring performances and appeal videos based on a personal Facebook Messenger conversation between the MAE director and Ukraine native Mikhail Zorich and his close friend, Irina, in Kyiv. Type “100 Hours” in the comments section of the donation page.
On Tuesday, May 10 at 5pm PST the Los Angeles Center of Photography is presenting an online conversation with photographer Natalie Keyssar, sharing her experience covering the war in Ukraine. The event will be moderated by LACP’s executive director, Dr. Rotem Rozental andNatalie will discuss and present her powerful, yet devastating photographs from the conflict.
On May 17 DevOpsDays Ukraine (part of the global DevOpsDays family) is hosting a virtual conference benefiting Razom to to discuss DevOps during crisis, incident, and business continuity management and share Ukrainian DevOps expertise.
In Michigan:Today, May 6from 7-10pm the Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts in Manistee, MI will be hosting a concert to benefit relief efforts through Razom. More info here.
In Texas: Over the weekend of May 13, Art of Peace, a group of Houstonians collaborating to help Ukrainian people, is hosting an art exhibition featuring 30 local artists with part of the proceeds benefiting Razom.
In Connecticut: On May 21, a local group of runners in Cheshire, CT are hosting a 5K run/walk in their town to fundraise for Razom. Learn more info on how to join them or contribute to their GoFundMe page go here.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter and continue to #StandWithUkraine.
5 травня 2022 року у львівському “Ukraine Media Centre” відбулась прес-конференція представників NGO “Razom for Ukraine” на тему “40 млн. дол. для допомоги Україні: як українські волонтери у США наближають нашу перемогу”.
З початку вторгнення Росії в Україну “Razom for Ukraine” поставила на паузу усі свої проекти й зосередилася на єдиному – допомогти українцям під час війни. За ці місяці за допомогою фандрайзингу організації вдалося зібрали 40 мільйонів доларів.
“З них вже на 27 мільйонів доларів вже закуплено товарів таких, як товари тактичної медицини, засоби комунікації, супутникові телефони, планшети, рації, дрони” – повідомила співзасновниця та віце-президентка NGO “Razom for Ukraine” Люба Шипович.
Спеціалізацією “RAZOM” є закупівля сертифікованих засобів тактичної медицини та доставка гуманітарної допомоги. Спочатку організація визначала та купувала необхідне самостійно, далі — налагодила комунікацію безпосередньо з військовими частинами та організаціями ТРО й почала отримувати запити безпосередньо від них. Військові найчастіше просили квадрокоптери, медичні аптечки та кровоспинні турнікети.
“За цей час війни нам уже вдалося виконати більше 550 заявок, які ми доставляємо напряму на передову. Тобто кінцевими отримувачами нашої допомоги є військові частини, госпіталі, організації територіальної оборони у прифронтових зонах” – поділилась виконавча директорка благодійного фонду “Разом для України” Евеліна Курілець.
Ще одним важливим напрямком допомоги “Razom for Ukraine” спільно з громадським рухом “Діти, ми встигнемо” стала евакуація діток з особливими потребами із гарячих точок та прифронтових зон. За два місяці волонтерам вдалося евакуювати 10 діток зі СМА закордон, а також вивезли до безпечних місць понад 500 дітей та жінок.
“Пізніше ми трансформувались і вирішили, що ми не тільки будемо евакуйовувати людей, однак, і доставляти ці надважливі вантажі, про які говорили попередні спікери. Ми доставляємо, фактично, гуманітарні вантажі, а назад веземо евакуйованих людей” – зазначив голова громадського руху “Діти, ми встигнемо” Віталій Свічинський.
Ініціатива “Razom for Ukraine” виникла ще під час “Революції Гідності” та об’єднала людей, не байдужих до української демократії. Сьогодні ж у США лише фандрейзингом займаються понад 100 волонтерів, працює лобістська команда, яка проводить зустрічі у Вашингтоні із Сенаторами та держслужбовцями США ТОП-рівня, а в Україні на складі організації працюють 45 осіб.
“Ми відкриті до співпраці і якщо комусь потрібна наша допомога, або хтось може нас підтримати – ласкаво просимо, ми відкриті до співпраці” – підсумувала прес-конференцію Евеліна Курілець.
Eva Kurilets (left), Vitaliy Svichynskyi (center), Lyuba Shipovich (right)former Ambassador to Ukraine from Canada Andrij Shevchenko
On May 5, 2022, a press conference was held at the Ukraine Media Center in Lviv by representatives of Razom for Ukraine on the topic “$40 million to help Ukraine: how Ukrainian volunteers in the United States are approaching our victory.”
Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Razom for Ukraine has paused all its projects and focused on one thing – helping Ukrainians in war time. During these months, the organization managed to raise $40 million through fundraising.
“Of these, $27 million have already been purchased for goods such as tactical medicine, communications, satellite phones, tablets, walkie-talkies, drones,” said Lyuba Shipovich, co-founder and vice president of Razom for Ukraine.
RAZOM specializes in the purchase of certified tactical medical supplies and the delivery of humanitarian aid. Initially, the organization determined and purchased the necessary items on its own, then established communication directly with military units and territorial defense units and began to receive inquiries directly from them. The military most often asked for quadcopters, first aid kits and hemostatic tourniquets.
“During this war, we have already managed to fulfill more than 550 requests, which we deliver directly to the front. That is, the final recipients of our assistance are military units, hospitals and field hospitals, territorial defense units in the frontline zones” – shared the executive director of Razom dlia Ukraini Evelina Kurilets.
Another important branch of aid for Razom together with the social movement “Children, we will make it” was the evacuation of children with special needs from hotspots and frontline areas. In two months, volunteers managed to evacuate 10 children with SMA abroad and more than 500 children and women to safety.
“Shortly we have transformed and decided that we would not only evacuate people, but also deliver this crucial aid, which was mentioned by previous speakers. Thus, we deliver humanitarian goods, and we take the evacuated people back,” said Vitaliy Svichynskyi, the head of the movement “Children, we will make it”.
Razom for Ukraine originated during the Revolution of Dignity and brought together people who stand for Ukrainian democracy. Today, more than 100 volunteers in the United States alone fundraise for Ukraine, an advocacy team meets in Washington D.C. with top U.S. senators and government officials, and 45 people work in Ukraine.
“We are open to cooperation and if someone needs our help, or someone can support us – welcome, we are open to cooperation,” Evelina Kurilets concluded the press conference.
On May 4th, Ukrainians were joined by the Wall Street “Fearless Girl” to call for more transparency on companies continuing to do business in russia. Razom organized a silent “Save the Children!” Protest, whose message is simple – by continuing to do business in russia, companies are feeding the war machine and killing more Ukrainian children. Protestors held the signs like “Stop funding putin’s war!”, “Boycott Business With russia” as well as QR codes with links to websites tracking russia “remainders”, such as Yale russia list, Boycott russia, Stop Business With russia (SBWr), Squeezing putin, Don’t Fund War and Exit russia.
Photos by George de Castro-Day/@aperture.delta
Razom business advocacy team has been collaborating with some of these initiatives to bring attention to the companies still paying their tax dollars stained by blood. The protests are happening in different corners of the US and the world. Stop Business With russia activists have written more than 300 emails to company CEOs, investor relations and shareholders urging them to get out of russia. Ukrainian financial analysts are pouring over quarterly earnings reports to see that the companies are following their public announcements and are indeed leaving russia. The pressure is on!
Razom is proud to be part of the effort for more transparency – we joined the Ukrainian American Bar Association, and Natalie Jaresko (former Minister of Finance of Ukraine) in submitting The Russia Disclosure rulemaking petition to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requiring US public companies to disclose their business with/within russia and Belarus. The petition 4-784 is now available on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website. Our proposal, if adopted, will provide critical information for investors, who may prefer to distance themselves from the financing of war crimes entirely, and also evaluate the risks of further sanctions, boycotts, reputational/ESG risks, and increased costs stemming from continued operation in russia.
CALL TO ACTION: You can help make this common-sense disclosure a reality with ~10 minutes of your time:
1. SEND A LETTER TO THE SEC: Email a note explaining why you support the proposed Russia Disclosure to rule-comments@sec.gov. The subject line of your message MUST include the 4-784 file number for the petition. Ok to attach a PDF.
2. WRITE TO YOUR SENATORS / CONGRESS REPS (or better call them) – relevant contacts based on your address available here: https://lnkd.in/dR32pE96. Request/suggest that they: (A) Send a letter to the SEC in support of the Russia Disclosure Petition 4-784, and (B) Support or co-sponsor “H.R.7228 Reveal Risky Russia Business Act” introduced by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) on March 24 (https://lnkd.in/dPXjWEaq) or introduce their own bill. As Andrii Galiuk from SBWr initiative explains: “Why is there both an SEC Petition and a Congress Act pursuing similar disclosure requirements? Good question. SEC can introduce a new disclosure requirement independent of Congress, solely based on the Petition, but it may also deny the petition and do nothing. Alternatively, US Congress can require SEC to introduce the disclosure – that’s how Conflict Minerals and Iran Business disclosures came to be. Of course, Congress requiring the disclosure in a bill would be optimal. But for now, both paths are viable and worth pursuing”.
3. SHARE THIS WITH YOUR NETWORK on social media. Tag political and civic leaders, and journalists who can help raise awareness.
