Ukraine Refugee Assistance

Here's our Update!

Current Paypal Balances:

Mothers and Babies Fund (Gmail):  Currently $0

Yaroslav's Ballistic Helmet fund (Yahoo): $300

Dr. Julia's EKG fund (as organized by Katie):  Total raised was over $1800, and the EKG was delivered on 1 November.  We have confirmation that Dr. Julia received it and the tourniquets at her unit.  All excess funds were spent on medicine.

GoFundMe is closed and will open for our Christmas run.

Christmas Care Package:  Open and avilable!!!  E-mail me for the (Alabama) address if you would like to send something, or order online direct from our Amazon.de Shopping List

Also for sharing are our social media links:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/510575651154518

https://www.instagram.com/dniproexpress/

And our very own website:

www.DniproExpress.com

Now with trip reports!

https://dniproexpress.com/trip-reports

Cheers everyone!

-Bill

Mornin' everyone!

Ok, so we called Yaro last night and told him to go shopping for a helmet and let us know what he wants.  Even though his current helmet is too small (we opted for the body armor over comfort in our last fundraiser, so this is his issued helmet) he said he wants to use those funds to buy video transmitters for his unit's FPV drones.

We pushed back a bit (obviously) but he informs us that they currently have a significant number of fpv drones, but in order to make them "combat ready" they need those parts. He is extremely thankful though and didn't want to sound unappreciative, but felt like shopping for himself wasn't appropriate when his unit needs so much stuff (they also need a vehicle, and for that I've put them in touch with Pickup4Ukraine and their network)

Hello, everyone!!!

There's some news from Dr.Julia - she got the EKG machine and meds 

I hope tomorrow i'll get a chance to post about it more detail 

The thing is... there's just so much going on that we... Bill and I... we just don't have time to write about it all  but we don't stop our work 

Thank you all for your support!!! 

Have a good week everyone!!!

Hi, everyone!!!

as Bill already mentioned, Mrs. Hungary and the boys(guys, you're my heroes) they made a crazy trip to Lviv to send the EKG machine to Dr.Julia through the Nova post  and i have to tell you that it was extremely FAST delivery!!! between Lviv and the delivery destination is about 1200 kilometers  The EKG machine was shipped at 11am and was already in place the next day around 6pm!!! Wooowwww!!! isn't? i think, absolutely!!!

When she received the machine, she called me immediately to thank you all and said that it's much needed help 

but she also said something else - ordinary women get excited when they get a new dress or jewelry or whatever, but she's happy she got the EKG!!! she unpacked the box and was just happy to see what was inside!!! and she was really happy, let me tell you that!!! 

Oh man, you said it 🤣

On our end, Timur (age 4, from Mariupol) got his delivery as well.  Not sure if we mentioned, but he's safely arrived at a shelter in Germany.  We wanted to send him something to let him know we were still thinking of him.

Hello, everyone!!!

I'd like to add something to Bill's post 

a few warm words from Timur's mom - for Bill, for you all 

-translation-

Good evening, we received the gifts today.

You should have seen Timur's face when I told him that he a package with a gift in it is waiting for him, so much happiness  I'll take a photo of him later and send it to you.

thank you so much, that's very pleasant, especially when we're not in Ukraine.

Explosions reported in Dnipro.  Multiple cruise missiles reported heading in their direction.

I think it's time we opened our fundraiser.  Christmas in Dnipro starts right now.  GoFundMe has been approved and can be shared:

https://gofund.me/b3715f76

Stay safe out there Vikki.

Our first Amazon box arrived today!

I'm always a nervous wreck when we start these donation drives (it's the whole "what if no one donates").  Getting that box today was exactly what I needed.

Thank all for all the little things like this.  It means the absolute world to me.

OOH!  That reminds me.  "The Spirit Of Ukraine" foundation reached out to me.  They have an Amazon list going as well.  Could we help with the delivery by running their donor's purchases into country?  

We absolutely can!!!

Hello, everyone!!! I hope you're doing well 

Unfortunately, Ukraine has come under another massive attack, the targets (which, obviously, was not a surprise ) were infrastructure and energy facilities. So, we have power outages again  and again attacks on cities and civilians

Buuuttt I didn't came here to complain (i'm always grateful for your support  and your warm words  always!!!)

I came here to finish the story about the last delivery for Dr.Julia 

Sooo, as i wrote earlier, i ordered a loooong list of meds with the money left over from Katie's fundraiser 

Well, the rest is easy 

First - pick up the meds at the pharmacy  

Next one - re-pack all this stuff into one box and go to the Nova post office to send the meds to Dr.Julia 

Done!!!

and the most important thing is to wait to hear back from Dr.Julia that the meds received and it helps to keep the guys alive and healthy 

Dr.Julia says thank you all very much!!!

I join her in saying the same thing - thank you, guys!!! thank you, Katie!!!

Have a good week everyone!!!

A grim milestone today:

We're all still here though, and that's something.  💙💛

Thanks as always, Bill and Vikki!

Donated to help get this (Christmas) party started :)

I can't believe it's been 1000 days already.    Amazing what the strength and pride of the Ukrainians can accomplish against the orc hordes! 

WonkoTheSane said:

Thanks as always, Bill and Vikki!

 

Donated to help get this (Christmas) party started :)

 

I can't believe it's been 1000 days already.    Amazing what the strength and pride of the Ukrainians can accomplish against the orc hordes! 

Thanks, Wonko!!!  But what's with this "down to two Mazdas" stuff?  Do you need us to come up there? 🤣

Hey, all.

We had a couple boxes arrive today, and it was just the thing I needed to keep me moving (will explain in a minute)

Here's what we got:

These came from my mother-in-law, and should go a long way in keeping our guys warm over the holiday 💙💛

Ok. Time for some bad news, everyone:

By now I’m sure you’ve heard about the ICBM strike on Dnipro last night. I’m afraid I have to report that one of the warheads struck our rehabilitation center.

If you remember, this center was the beneficiary of our first Christmas run to the city in 2022. We delivered a portable EKG machine and a good quantity of UV disinfectant lights. We were also able to bring with us a sizeable cash donation from which they were able to renovate their kitchen, and expand their operation into multiple newly renovated rooms for their residents.

If there’s any good news in all this, it’s that only the boiler building was hit, and no one was hurt. Unfortunately, most of the windows in the adjacent buildings were blown out and the facility is now without heat.

I know we have already started our fundraiser and named an orphanage the beneficiary of any excess funds we received. This was supposed to be a surprise (a Christmas miracle, if you wilĺ)

As the orphanage will not miss what they didn’t know was coming, we felt it only prudent to shift our focus back to the rehabilitation center.

Here is a link to the kids Christmas fundraiser if you didn't have it already:

https://gofund.me/d996b346

I’ll post a picture of us below with the director of the center (she’s the amazing woman in the sweater, and she was so happy to have our help that she baked us boxes upon BOXES of bread and biscuits.). Hopefully we can help her through this.

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

Oh man, that's a double gut punch.

I know it's prying into their affairs, and I'm sure they're handling it, but... Could it be possible to find out if they are short any critical immediate needs that a little extra funding from us might go farther on right now, or if the next run would be just as good for all of whatever modest sum we're able to contribute?

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

Thanks, Wonko!!!  But what's with this "down to two Mazdas" stuff?  Do you need us to come up there? 🤣

A few years ago I consolidated my fleet down to a 94 Miata track car and my 2021 Mx-5 daily driver.. The rest are minivans and a truck :)    I was starting a business and didn't really have time for a project...   We'll see where that goes in the future, but there's currently plenty of fun in the fleet for someone with too many children like myself :)

And a big "+1" to what Driven5 said!

100% on it, and very good point.  I'll let you guys know what they say.

You guys rock 🤘🏼

Alright, just got word back from VikkiDp.  We should be expecting their response in just a couple days (understandably, communication is slow right now).

I edited a video today for us to help pass the time while we wait.  It's about our 2024 Deliveries to Dr. Julia and the 3rd Assault Battalion.

Hello, everyone!!!  Hope you're doing well!!! 

Unfortunately, Dnipro was under attack again  I understood roughly where the hits were, and after reading the news, my suspicions were heightened  Unfortunately, my assumptions were confirmed - one of the affected facilities was the rehab center Malva we visited  in December 2022 

Driven5, WonkoTheSane ohhh, guys, I really appreciate your offer to help them - they need it  

The center has changed directors, but I found a way to contact them and find out what support is needed 

They need some construction and electrical supplies right now to rebuild the lights - I'm not so sure if we can help with that quickly.

Orrr... I can get in touch with the deputy director a little later(she's on a business trip) to ask if there is anything else we can do to help them and bring something with us in person on the December run 

Any questions? Any thoughts?

Have a good day everyone!!! 

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

I edited a video today for us to help pass the time while we wait.  It's about our 2024 Deliveries to Dr. Julia and the 3rd Assault Battalion.

I love this video  Cool!!! 

If you're talking about all the help for Dr.Julia in 2024, there was also buying parts to repair her car in February and a huge box of meds in July 

When i think about everything that's going on and everything we've done - ohhh, guys, it's really crazy!!! let me tell you!!!  how do we do it? how do we have time to do it? i have no idea  But we are doing it and will continue to do it!!! 

The only thing i know for sure is that without your help and support, this wouldn't have happened!!! 

Thank you all!!!

In reply to VikkiDp :

Glad to see you're okay Vikki!  

I can definitely scrape together something for them once you figure out what that means.  Thanks for taking the point on that!

I've looked into shipping 2x4s and cinder blocks from over here and I don't think that's the answer, so it'll probably just be money :)

In reply to VikkiDp :

What about wiring cash to the director directly.

GRM can use my Gmail paypal, and I can transfer to my local bank (USD account).  From there I can IBAN it in to Ukraine and their director can spend it on whatever they need.

Otherwise, I am more than happy load any supplies we can in the back of the truck 😉

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to VikkiDp :

What about wiring cash to the director directly.

GRM can use my Gmail paypal, and I can transfer to my local bank (USD account).  From there I can IBAN it in to Ukraine and their director can spend it on whatever they need.

Otherwise, I am more than happy load any supplies we can in the back of the truck 😉

I was thinking about that option as well or i could give it to them - no problem, at all 

you figure out what that means.

Actually, they sent me a list of what they need 

but i'm not sure i can buy all that stuff (no, well, i can, of course, if i have to), the thing is i'm just totally clueless about that kind of stuff 

Anyway, I'll offer them support, and we'll see what we can do 

Thank you guys!!!

Happy thanksgiving day, everyone!!!

Wishing you the best of everything this Thanksgiving—food, friends, feast, and future tidings. Sending my warm wishes your way and hoping you and your family have a great Thanksgiving Day!

Thank you all!!! 

VikkiDp said:

Happy thanksgiving day, everyone!!!

Wishing you the best of everything this Thanksgiving—food, friends, feast, and future tidings. Sending my warm wishes your way and hoping you and your family have a great Thanksgiving Day!

Thank you all!!! 

Happy Thanksgiving, Vikki!

I'm thankful you're still safe and still out there.  And I'm thankful for everyone on this thread and all the people working behind the scenes.  None of this would be possible without all the hard work you all do to make it happen!