At our Fund Raising Concert on April 17, featuring Danie Ocean singing songs from her recent compilation ALIVE!, backed by our own hot band, Spence & Co., our generous patrons kicked $575 in cash and checks into our blue and yellow Ukrainian Relief bucket. Our Director rounded up the sum to a full $600 so we can donate $300 each to two stellar organizations who are giving on-the-ground direct aid to the suffering, yet so courageous, people of Ukraine.
World Central Kitchen is cooking hundreds of meals for refugees and residents of bombarded Ukrainian cities: Amid the ongoing threats, WCK restaurant and delivery partners are determined to provide meals and food products to frontline communities and shelters.
24 miles outside of Kyiv, Brovary was hit by missiles this week, leaving the area without power or water. WCK restaurant partners in Kyiv, who are already cooking thousands of meals for hospitals and liberated cities, expanded their capacity to ensure meals were provided to the hard-hit community. Also nearby, Chef José and the team delivered food bags in Shybene and Borodyanka. Read about their work and see the photographic record (and donate more if you can) here: https://wck.org/news/chefsforukraine-over-12-million-meals-served
UNICEF is the arm of the United Nations that cares for children. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, over 4.3 million children have been forced out of their homes. That’s well over half the country’s estimated 7.5 million total. More than four million Ukrainians — including 2 million children — have crossed the border into Poland, Romania, Moldova and other neighboring countries since the Russian invasion of Feb. 24, according to UNHCR. This is one of the fastest large-scale displacements of children since World War II. To aid mothers and children who have fled the country in search of safety, UNICEF has set up a network of Blue Dot refugee support centers where they can access emergency services. Strategically located along key transit routes, the Blue Dot support hubs provide health screenings, information on available accommodations and transportation, a safe place for children to play, registration for psychosocial support, counseling and protection services, and other vital forms of assistance.
Our few dollars are just a drop in the bucket, but perhaps one child will be safer and one family helped to find a way out of danger by what we were able to give. To learn more and to give more please go to https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/