Johns Hopkins MBA & Husband Organize Effort To Help Individual Ukrainians

You also made a video with comments from people from all 50 U.S. states, in a show of unity for Ukrainian people and as a call to action for fundraising. Tell us about that.

Jon: We just had this idea of like, Ukraine was inspiring the world, right? We’re not used to seeing leadership, unity and just like pride in the way that we’ve been seeing it. Obviously this is a really special leader in history. We just thought it would be a great time to have some unity here, which is something that’s always missing in our country. We also knew that the volunteers are getting so tired and we wanted to give them a boost and make sure they know that everybody is still thinking of them. So, we decided to do a video over spring break. 

Mike: My grandma today texted, and she was like, “I’m sorry, I didn’t ask you before, but I sent the video to everybody I know. This is so beautiful. Thank you so much.” It just gives people the support there to know they are not forgotten. When you are, you know, in a basement alone, and you still have your phone, and you’re checking into the world and seeing it is supporting you? That’s a huge amount of support.

Jon: Now we have all these people asking how to help with people we didn’t even know before. So especially with this video, we now have friends all over the country.

 

What other things do you have planned?

Jon: We’re doing an event in Cleveland on April 28 to raise money for basically one thing they need over there. Like if we need 50 pairs of boots, or 50 helmets, something like that, we’ll make that the goal of that party. There are also two girls in Cleveland who started a Five for Five challenge where they are giving up their coffee every day and donating $5, and they are challenging five of their friends to do the same. We had a school on Long Island send us $620 from two bake sales that they did, so we’ll get that to Ukrainian families. We had someone from California call us yesterday that has all this access to all these brand new clothes for children. So, we’re gathering families and sizes. 

Then there’s this incredible organization in Baltimore that actually got their 501-c3 (Global Operations Group Ukraine) for tax-deductible donations, and if people want to donate that way we’ll send them over to them. We are not concerned if someone donates to us or through another organization, as long as they know it will touch people’s lives quite directly.

 The reason we like Global Operations Group is because we met with the founder, who was born in Ukraine, and they are sending money and goods directly to people on the ground. You know, the big organizations are amazing, but the day-to-day people don’t see a lot of it because there are just so many of them and so much for that money to go to.

So, it started with your friends and family, but has expanded to other Ukrainian people who need help. How are you finding them?

Jon: Word of mouth. Instagram …

Mike: They are just reaching out through hashtags, trying to find help anywhere.

Jon: We’re really vocal on Instagram. I also have friends in Kyiv who are also volunteering from my old job. So, you know, we send them money and they go around and get supplies and deliver them. 

Mike: Instagram was a big one because my friends keep posting, like about a family who just lost their home or they’re in the hospital or something. 

Jon: And now two of the families got to Poland, and I connected them with people in London, and now they started their own GoFundMe, and they’re talking to the families directly. So we’re trying to just expand it as much as possible. But really, it’s about people helping people directly.

Mike: It’s obviously not a huge amount of people, but at least those that we can cover.

So, if readers of this story want to help, they should just visit your website?

Jon: Yes, if they want to give money, they can go to our website and donate, and we’ll get their contact information, and we can also send updates on where the money went. Or if they want that kind of tax deductible donation, then I send them to Global Operations Group Ukraine. If they want to donate stuff, we’ll figure it out. We call the people we know there, whether it’s in Ukraine or in the countries that people have escaped to, and just connect them. So it all sort of starts on our website. It doesn’t need to come through us, but we are happy to do the work to connect them.

What’s a connection you’ve helped to make that sticks out to you personally?

Mike: My younger cousin’s mom, she’s just had a surgery to remove her thyroid, and there’s a specific hormone medicine that just disappeared from the market. We were calling to the West, calling to Poland, everywhere, to get this medicine. Then it appeared to be that we were not the only ones who needed the medicine, and people started posting that they needed it too. Or posting that they had five packs of it or seven. So Yaroslav became the one who started going around to the pharmacies and getting it and sending it out to people. 

The medicine, the food, the humanitarian aid that was delivered to people means a lot.  When my grandparents receive humanitarian aid from similar volunteers, you should just see their excitement. There’s a shortage right now in the stores and the prices are super high. Stores have posted signs that if somebody can contribute food or something to the store, they will accept it. 

There are people I know who flew to Egypt right before the war for a vacation.  They landed only to find out that the war started in Ukraine. They couldn’t come back, so they went to Europe but had no winter clothes. Some other people had just bought their apartment, and now it’s destroyed. Some of them just lost their parents, and they’re like, 15 to 18 years old, so just sending help for them to be able to eat really. To me, it’s just the humanity that wakes up in those moments. 

Jon: I guess definitely it’s helping the kids. We talked to all these women that have children, and there’s all kinds of needs. A lot of it is food, and a lot of it is medical. But also protecting these guys that are going to defend their country, and being able to send 30 bulletproof vests.

I think my favorite thing, if I have a favorite thing, is connecting the two families–donor and donee. I find this family that’s in need, or they find me, and first of all they are so amazed that I respond.  I remember one woman who has seven children, and she said that she wrote to like 100 people for help. She said everybody wants to help, but then nobody responds. If anybody sends an email to Ukrainian-alliance.org, and says, like, “I’ve donated $200 and I would like it to go to someone,” I will always connect them.  So for me, it’s just connecting families from across the world in different circumstances and seeing that it’s like, you know, a community. People are very touched by it. 

What else would you like readers to know?

I’d love for people to know that it doesn’t have to be a one-time donation, it’s better to send regularly. The other thing I would love people to know is that I think some people feel really comfortable supplying humanitarian aid, but feel more uncomfortable when it’s like military aid or protective gear. But, that is for people out there defending their homes.

Mike: People are going to patrol in their towns and they don’t have boots, bulletproof vests, or helmets. A person I knew in Ukraine went as a volunteer to deliver humanitarian aid for a different organization, and they were shot in one of those cities that got destroyed in the first or second week. So just basic protection, which for like a bullet proof vest, the price is enormous.

Jon: They’re like $400 to $500 each. It’s crazy.

What happens if and when the violence stops? Will you continue with these efforts? 

Jon: So, you know Yaroslav,  who is the heart and soul, I think he sees a long-term vision for this, and so do I, and so does Mike. For me, it could go one of two ways: One is really to continue to donate and helping to rebuild. Another way is to help Ukrainian companies and small businesses to scale. So, when they’re rebuilding, it’s really helping money come in, but through business.

If the war ends in five minutes, it’s still a long-term situation. I think the roads alone that have been destroyed is the same distance in kilometers as from Alaska to Florida. Even yesterday, Ukrainians were blowing up more bridges themselves to stop the Russians from getting to Dunbas. The rebuilding effort is going to be massive. And again, those big organizations are going to do a lot, but for us, it’s about the person who’s been out of work for six months, and helping them rebuild their life. I think we’ll always work in a smaller, personal way.