A 40 foot tractor-trailer with a load of medical supplies weighing 20 tons and valued between $300,000 - $400,000, left for Ukraine from the Fairfax regional office of the Brother's Brother Foundation https://brothersbrother.org/ on April 29, 2015.
The humanitarian assistance effort for Ukraine, sponsored by the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF) http://usukraine.org/ , a non-profit based in Washington, DC, is a collaborative one that includes a number of organizations and many individuals.
A portion of this joint work occurred in Pittsburgh, where members of the Ukrainian-American community partnered with the Brother’s Brother Foundation (BBF) in donating part of the total aid sent to Ukraine.
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Led by Dr. Alexander Kirichenko, a radiation oncologist at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh who came to the U.S. in 1997 from Ukraine, the coordinated endeavor of donations came from the Allegheny Health Network, Butler Health System, Trinity Health System in Steubenville, Ohio and St. Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in McKees Rocks, PA.
In the Washington, DC area, the project was organized over the past several months by the Foundation's Humanitarian Aid Coordinator, Tetyana Neeley, who brought together the key components of medical donations, international shipping, delivery logistics and final distribution in Ukraine through the organization, Kozhen Mozhe, to hospitals primarily in central and eastern Ukraine where the need is greatest.”
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John A. Kun, USUF's chief operating officer, noted, “Tetyana performed wonderfully in a complex environment. She worked with our good friends in Pittsburgh, with BBF both in Pittsburgh and in Fairfax County, with our shipping firm, Meest, and with our many volunteers and cooperating organizations, such as United Help Ukraine. The shipment of medical items will go to civilian hospitals and medical centers treating many of the injured from the war-ravaged eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.”
President of USUF, Nadia Komarnyckyj McConnell, stated, “There is a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine that is a result of Russian's war of aggression. It is estimated that over a million people have been displaced in Ukraine. Over 15,000 people have been injured, over 6,000 have been killed. The people of Ukraine need our help. We are grateful for the cooperation of the Embassy of Ukraine, the financial generosity of our donors including those giftng through the Goals for Ukraine initiative, the medical product-deliverables provided by the Brother's Brother Foundation and others, and the on-the-ground efforts of many volunteers who make this effort of humanitarian assistance possible. We look forward to the assistance of many others as so much more help for Ukraine is desperately needed.”
If you would like to participate, please contact the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation at 1660 L Street NW - Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036 or by email: info@usukraine.org.
Photo Credit: Vadym Guliuk Photography http://www.vadymguliuk.com/
