How Can I Help?
“How can I help?” A much more powerful question than “are you okay?” or “do you need anything?” The scenes of desperate people fleeing the war in Europe has led to many people asking how they can help. Today’s post highlights some of the things which people and organisations are doing to try to support Ukraine and its people.
Donations
There are many ways to donate, financially and otherwise. The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is collecting funds to help charities provide food, water, shelter and healthcare. Find out more and donate here.
The DEC brings together fifteen UK charities, listed below, to pool donations and coordinate support in times of crisis. For this reason, I haven’t listed each charity separately.
UNICEF is helping children in Ukraine, by supplying food, water, shelter, and ongoing child support services. UNICEF has reinstated the Blue Dot safe spaces scheme, which are set up in close coordination with national and local authorities. The spaces are dotted along routes of major population flows. They connect to one another in a sequenced way, as people move, to help support tracing and family reunification.
Animals, as well as people, are suffering. The Pack website has a list of organisations which are collecting funds to support animals, and their guardians, in Ukraine.
Species Unite also has details of organisations which are supporting animals in the Ukraine. This link includes information about shelters in neighbouring countries which are taking in, and helping, animals from Ukraine.
Eurogroup for Animals gives more information on how to help animals caught up in the conflict. This page also lists the EU Member States which have temporarily lifted restrictions on the movement of pets. [All EU Member States are permitted to apply exemptions on the non-commercial movement of pets due to an exceptional situation (Article 32 of Regulation (EU) 576/2013)].
Other Options
Tripadvisor has suspended reviews on various Russian venues, after people posted ‘reviews’ containing information about the war in Ukraine. This was an attempt to share information with the Russian public, who are being shielded from many news sources. Tripadvisor are however match funding donations to the World Central Kitchen, which is helping to feed thousands of displaced Ukrainians. The Travel Forum section on Tripadvisor is open to people wishing to post information about the conflict.
Some people have booked AirBnB accommodation in Ukraine, in an effort to get funds directly to families. AirBnB is offering accommodation for up to 100,000 refugees, and have waived booking fees for any bookings made for Ukraine properties.
If you try to offer support this way, check that the listing is genuine. Rooms which have been listed since before the conflict are more likely to be bona fide. Looks for hosts with verified identities, and reviews for their listing. You can also do a reverse image search online, to try to check the authenticity of photos used in listings.
Etsy have waived listing fees and cancelled outstanding balances for sellers in Ukraine. To try to send money to Ukrainian sellers, customers are buying digital download files. Whether or not the files are available to download, hopefully the funds will find their way to someone in need.
With the block on external news channels in Russia, people are finding workarounds to access services. The BBC has published guidance on circumvention tools to access their sites.
International counselling platform, It’s Complicated, offer support services in cities around the world. A number of therapists on the platform are providing up to four free therapy sessions for those impacted directly by the war in Ukraine.
Final Thoughts
I boxed some children’s clothing and accessories yesterday, to drop to Dash Couriers. As I did, I reflected on the childhood we try to offer to our son. There is much that I take for granted during these early years of carefree fun and learning. I don’t need the baby clothes I saved through sentiment. Or spare pairs of ‘just in case’ socks. Children who flee with the clothes they wear, and what they can carry, are the ones in need. For example, the boy who travelled alone across Ukraine. Age 11, and a journey of seven hundred miles with just a plastic bag, passport, and telephone number.
A thought, too, for those Russian people who risk their own lives protesting. Children have been arrested for laying flowers in support of peace. Adults arrested face forced labour, long prison sentences, and crippling fines.
The final thought though goes to Ukraine and the people who are caught in this conflict. I generally avoid overly political posts, but I am appalled by what is happening. The human tragedy is unimaginable, and the news is hard to take. Just days ago, Ukrainians were living the life they knew. Then everything changed, as the rest of the world watched. When the conflict ends, they are left with a devastated country, and families destroyed.
I hope that the human spirit will prevail, and we will join together to help rebuild when the time comes.
http://https://youtu.be/CE7lC121gTI
A young girl shows the spirit and courage demonstrated by so many in Ukraine.
Em. Such a moving and helpful post. I’m pleased to say that Rotary with its worldwide community of members is doing all it can to find ways to help. Our discussion last night was about fund raising collections and supporting organisations such as DEC that already have feet on the ground in Ukraine and surrounding countries.
Thanks for reading, and commenting. It’s so hard to know what’s best to do to help. We do what we can though.