Dear Razom Community,
As we enter fall, Razom is looking ahead — whether that’s delivering new types of life saving supplies that ready first responders, defenders, hospitals, and internally displaced people for the winter, or developing and supporting projects that center upon the renewal of Ukraine.
In the coming weeks we’ll be sharing the latest stories surrounding our impact, projects from Razom you might not have heard about before that need your support, and events to put on your radar. As always, we are tremendously grateful for your continuous support, donations, forwards to friends, community events and fundraisers, and attendance at our rallies. Without that, we wouldn’t be able to do the work we care so much about!
Our Emergency Response Project is evolving. While the mission to save lives in Ukraine remains the same, we’ve added new supplies to the mix of our deliveries that will be critical given the cold and wet months ahead. This includes things like thermal blankets, cold and flu medications, thermal clothing, heaters, and more. You can help us in procuring such supplies by buying them off of Razom’s Amazon Wishlist or connecting with our team at info@razomforukraine.org when making in-kind donations of large quantities.
In-kind donations continue to pour in from medical professionals, US hospitals, and major global organizations, and a lot of coordination goes into ensuring these donations make it into the right hands. One of our key partners on the ground in distributing aid to Ukrainian hospitals is Zdorovi. Since February 24, Zdorovi has distributed 231 tons of medical aid through 332 deliveries to hospitals, maternity centers, and elder facilities in 22 regions across the country. Around 70% of this aid has come from Razom and our US-based donation partners.
We were thrilled to host a New York City visit of Nataliia Tulinova, CEO of Zdorovi last month and bring her into conversation with our US-based medical donation partners. You can watch the presentations and discussions from this event here for an opportunity to learn about our work together and how we’re taking our experience of the past six months into the future. Nearly one quarter of Ukrainian hospitals have been damaged or occupied since the start of the war, and the upcoming winter also poses new challenges (like reliable energy sources and heating). Ukraine’s Ministry of Health estimates that 627 hospitals will soon need generators.
Razom is soon embarking on another medical mission to Ukraine titled the Face to Face Project, in partnership with the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFRS) and INgenius (a Ukrainian platform for developing medicine and science). A group of 17 surgeons and RNs will be going to Ukraine to perform reconstructive surgeries and repair complex facial injuries on civilians who are suffering from these traumas as a result of the war.
Thanks to a generous in-kind donation from pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Catherine McClung Smith, a critical mass of medical supplies have already arrived to the mission’s host hospital in Ivano-Frankivsk. Our partners at FIGS have also donated clean, high-quality scrubs to the healthcare professionals taking part in the mission.
Want to support this medical mission? Check out Cafe Brio’s “Stand with Ukraine” tote bags. They are donating 100% of proceeds from sales to the mission, helping us procure critical equipment and medications!
Razom is currently running two fundraisers that need your support:
- Help Renovate Bomb Shelters in Kharkiv!
- This Eastern Ukrainian city with a population of over 1 million lies a mere 30 miles (50 km) from the russian border and gets shelled daily. Once the sirens sound, the recommendation is to go down to the shelters. And yet, there are not enough shelters for everyone that has stayed in the city.
- Old soviet era buildings may have basements, but they are often unfinished, without plumbing or electricity, and have poor ventilation.
- Our partner, Volonterska UA, is cooperating with the city government to find suitable basements and provide basic renovations. It often takes only $500 to clean out the garbage, rework electricity, and install ventilation.
- Razom has already issued Volonterska a grant to start this work, but we need your help to continue cleaning up basements through the fall. Please donate what you can to help the citizens of Kharkiv and check out the before and after photos on the facebook fundraiser page!
- Enter a Raffle to Win a Rare Commemoratory Stamp Set From Ukraine!
- Once upon a time, 13 Ukrainian troops on a tiny island were offered to surrender by a russian warship named “Moscow”. Their reply was: “russian warship, go f*** yourself!” And the Ukrainian troops defended the island until the russian warship “Moscow” sank, prophetically.
- This courage inspired millions and today we offer you an official stamp set commemorating the history being made.
- Give any amount to Razom on this post to help save lives of heroes and defenders and receive a chance to win the legendary stamp set.
- The winner will be chosen randomly and will be announced on September 12.
This Friday, September 9 – 7:00PM join us at Zucotti Park (NY)
to show support to Americans ahead of the day of national grief.
Wear black &
Bring big American flags and small American flags with the blue and yellow ribbon on them
_______________________________
On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes. Two of the planes were deliberately crashed into the upper floors of the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center complex and a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The passengers on the fourth hijacked plane fought back, and the plane was crashed into an empty field.
The attacks killed 2,977 people from 93 nations: 2,753 people were killed in New York; 184 people were killed at the Pentagon; and 40 people were killed on Flight 93.
We, Ukrainians, feel the pain of Americans and it is our moral duty to show support to the nation that stands up for our country in these hard times.
You will not want to miss this!
This event aims to bring the greatest minds and key political figures together to discuss the implications of the war in Ukraine for global security, economy, energy security, and food security. At the charity dinner we will celebrate the resilience and spirit of the Ukrainian people, and raise funds for the reconstruction of medical facilities in Ukraine that have been destroyed by the russian army.
Some of the confirmed speakers at the event are Dr. Paul Krugman (Nobel Prize Winner in Economics ’08), and Dr. Roger Myerson (Nobel Prize Winner in Economics’ 07), Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, John Herbst, Serhii Plokhii, Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Tymofii Brik, Tymofiy Mylovanov. Several top Ukrainian officials including Andriy Yermak, the Chief of Zelensky’s administration, Yulia Svyrydenko, the First Vice Prime Minister and the Minister of Economy of Ukraine, and several other ministers will participate as well (some of them might be online due to the situation in Ukraine).
Click below to register and use promo code “RazomForUkraine” to get a 10% discount at checkout!
Continuing our Razom Says Dyakuyu (thank you) series, we want to spotlight some amazing stories of generosity, support, and simple organizing to fundraise for Razom’s work in helping Ukraine.
We’ve collected a lot of these stories over the past 6 months, and they continue to sustain and inspire us.
Below are the most recent spotlights.
United for Ukraine
Thank you so much for reading this newsletter, for keeping up to date with Razom, and for your support of Ukraine. We’re so glad you’re with us.
Stay razom.
