Below you’ll find updates from Razom Health team, a volunteer fundraising impact story grown out of WI, and a list of the latest events across the country for you to go and support Ukraine.
Dear Razom community,
The sorting and packing in our New Jersey warehouse doesn’t stop and that’s thanks to all of your (and our partners’) donations and our teams’ procurements that continue to pour in. Each of the steps you take, big or small, are a part of a chain of support that makes a difference in Ukraine. Today we want to shine a light on two different teams at Razom – the hospitals team and the US migrant task force team.
Razom Health team (hospitals@razomforukraine.org) is a segment of our Emergency Response project that coordinates and partners with global health and major disaster relief organizations to collect in-kind donations of hospital supplies and medicines for Ukraine. Those partners include MedShare, PartnersforWorldHealth, Americares, and Afya Foundation. Thanks to our on the ground partners Zdorovi and Patients of Ukraine (Пацієнти України), we have access to five warehouses across 3 different cities in Ukraine to be able to reliably distribute aid to hospitals in need. Here’s what they’ve accomplished so far:
- MedGlobal x Razom x UMANA x Ministry of Health in Ukraine are partnering to facilitate the first of several week-long medical missions by bringing a team of 10 trauma surgeons to Lviv, traveling with 160 suitcases of medical supplies and portable butterfly ultrasounds. They will provide trainings for Ukrainian doctors on poly trauma surgical procedures/diagnostics/surgeries, on operating portable butterfly ultrasounds (donated by MedGlobal), and educating doctors on how to prepare (and act) in case of chemical warfare.
- PartnersforWorldHealth has sent over 26 pallets of medical supplies to Razom, 7 of which we shipped by air and the rest by sea (based on priority of needs in Ukraine).
- MedShare is finalizing its first sea container of medical supplies to go to Ukraine next week, and has invited Razom to its 10th Annual Share the Good Gala on April 4th to raise funds for humanitarian aid efforts in Ukraine.
- Americares is sending its 3rd large shipment of urgent medications next week via Razom for our partner in Ukraine Patients of Ukraine (Пацієнти України).
- We’ve also coordinated and received in-kind donations from hospitals and individual medical works that have collectively included:
- 8 pallets of medical hospital supplies from UMass Memorial Medical Center
- 1 woundvac and 5 boxes of surgical / central line catheters from private donations
- 6 boxes of surgical supplies from Rhode Island Doctors donated to our tactical medicine efforts
- FIGS donated 21 pallets of new hospital scrubs to military hospitals in Ukraine to boost morale of the overworked medical professionals.
- Help Heroes of Ukraine has been a major transportation partner for us, volunteering to deliver many pallets of aid on our behalf to our Meest warehouse in New Jersey.
We are so grateful to be building long-term relationships with these organizations as they are key to Razom being able to respond quickly and at scale to needs in Ukraine. There’s good reason we named ourselves Razom, which means “together” in Ukrainian #RazomAccelerates.
Thanks to the work of the Door County Candle Company, there’s now a little bit of Ukraine lighting up homes in all 50 states in the U.S., including Puerto Rico. Second generation Ukrainian-American, Christiana Gorchynsky Trapani, channeled her feelings of helplessness over what’s happening in Ukraine by putting her talents and resources to good use, and inspiring her community to do the same. This artisan candle shop located in Sturgeon Bay, WI in Northern Wisconsin’s Door County Peninsula, has raised over $300,000 (and counting) for Razom’s Emergency Response by selling over 40,000 “Ukraine” candles. That’s double the amount they’d usually sell in a year!
To be able to get this done, Christiana got her father, an ER doctor helping when he’s not on shift, her Door County community of volunteers, and even the previous owner of the shop, who came out of retirement to help streamline the process. People drive up from hours away to be a part of the volunteer effort pouring and preparing candles or making lunches and coffee for the team. Even Christiana’s 82 year-old grandmother, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine as a child during World War II, is helping to sticker the packages.
Everyday people from all walks of life, professions, creeds, ethnicities, and worldviews unite to do one thing to help Ukraine, and it’s so beautiful. You don’t have to do everything, but you can do something, and together, that can be extraordinary.
Finally, here’s a list of events we’d like to bring to your attention and encourage you to support:
- On Saturday, April 2nd theUkrainian Bandura Chorus Concert of North America will be performing a Save the Ukrainian Voice Charitable Concert in Michigan with all proceeds benefiting Razom.
- On Saturday, April 2nd refnight.com (who goes to a hockey game every year to cheer for the referees and raise money for charity) has chosen Razom for an evening at a New Jersey Devils hockey game.
- All the proceeds from a Charity Gala Event on Sunday, April 3rd at the Oceana Theater in Brooklyn will be going to Razom’s Emergency Response project. The event will be performance-based, with the acts varying from music (performances from KAZKA and Alyosha amongst others), children’s choir and dance, speeches, and video blocks (feat. Okean Elzy, Jamala, and Max Barskih).
- NYC Moms For A Cause will be hosting a Cocktail Reception to Benefit Ukrainian Families on April 12th, 6:30-9:00pm at the Ukrainian Institute of America. The evening will include live performances, a silent auction, and heavy canapés and flowing drinks, all in support of Razom’s Emergency Response.
- April 30th from 3:30-7:30pm the Hudson Valley Relief Benefit will feature guest speakers, music, food, and a silent auction. Get you tickets and join Novellas Restaurant in New Paltz, NY to support Razom’s Emergency Response project!
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter and continue to #StandWithUkraine.
Stay Razom.
