May 24
Total evacuations to date: 33,717 people
Evacuations this week: 1,452 people
Hundreds of thousands of meals delivered to date
*The map shows routes active throughout Ukraine TrustChain’s history; the Mariupol route is no longer feasible.
This senseless, incomprehensible war rages on into the third month. People’s apartments and houses that were once standing are simply no longer there, and even if they are able to return to their cities, they return home to nothing. Civilians live without food, diapers, medicine. The bombings that had eased in cities like Kharkiv, have in the past several days intensified again. It is hard to stay engaged for so long in a conflict across the world, but the longer war continues, the more acute the need becomes for people there. As Natasha wrote the other day, she is so tired; she wishes she could just rest. But if not her, then who will help?
Ukraine Teams Milestones
Despite ongoing fuel shortages, teams that we fund evacuated 1,452 people last week from the embattled Northern Donbas region, from Bakhmut, Lysychansk and the surrounding areas. Every evacuee had been staying in place in impossible conditions for three months until now. It is heartbreaking that circumstances have finally forced them to evacuate.
Pavel’s teams shifted most of its efforts to Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, the zone of unrelenting fighting and active artillery fire. Many people are too scared to evacuate, fearing it is too dangerous, and pass clandestine scraps of notes through volunteers such as the one below (a request to call their family when they get out). Last week Pavel’s team evacuated 570 people.
This week, Ukrainians all over the world marked Vyshyvanka Day, a traditional Ukrainian clothing embroidered with designs. This picture of team lead Kseniia reflects the beauty of Ukraine’s unique cultural identity and heritage.
Meanwhile, her teams embarked on a new initiative in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions helping returning citizens repair their roofs in order to prevent structural decay of their buildings. The first roof repair was completed last week with many more on the way.
Natasha came back from another expedition to Poland this week and brought back hundreds of medic kits that would help treat the wounded and assist volunteers during dangerous missions. She reconnected in Poland with Marta Malecka, founder of Be a Hero UA, who supported her with humanitarian aid when she was there last month.
Natasha’s team found a new space and are moving their warehouse to a place that will be more accessible to refugees.
The Brovary team supported by Natasha distributed 1,500 packages of aid to people.
Dina has finished preparations to expand her network. She started distributing aid in Merefa and Kaniv already, and is expanding to Kremenchuk and Poltava next week.
Karina’s teams evacuated 317 people from Lysychansk, Bakhmut, and refugees from Popasnoe and other battle zones stuck in Northern Donbas.
Andriy’s team evacuated 119 people that we missed last week and 446 people this week.
Oleksandr coordinated 11 humanitarian missions. We are supporting these missions with the purchase of fuel and closing gaps in procurement. Some of those missions involved pushing aid to the occupied territories in Kherson region and delivering aid to Severodonetsk that is burning under continuous enemy shelling.
Thanks to your generous donations Ukraine TrustChain has finished distributing payments to volunteers in Ukraine to give them a chance to stay on as volunteers while also being able to sustain their families. Our heroes passed heartfelt thank yous to all of us, the community supporting them. You can see some of their messages on our social media pages.
US Teams Update
Our US Team was so eager and honored for the chance to meet over Zoom with our volunteer lead in Dnipro, Dina. This is another reminder of what makes UTC so unique – we have direct bonds with our volunteer teams, and deeply understand the needs and situation on the ground.
Thank you to St. Louis Arc for supporting Ukraine TrustChain’s mission by partnering with us as a corporate 501c3 fiscal sponsor; this partnership will allow our organization to process larger donations and donations from donor advised funds.
Several fundraising events around the country have happened or are happening in support of UTC. Please continue to tell your friends to tell their friends about how to support the volunteers in Ukraine.
Why I Volunteer – Karina’s Story
I became a volunteer on the third day of the war. In actuality, I didn’t know for the first two days what to do with myself. The first day, I felt so empty, like in a fog. I didn’t know what to do, where to go, how to be. My friends took me to the store and we bought groceries, some supplies. We ended up in an apartment with 14 people, 5 of whom were children. We all slept on the floor together to be away from the windows.
Those first days, we spent in a haze, glued to the news. Suddenly, I stopped and thought, what am I doing? Why aren’t we helping? There are so many people who need us, who need our help. There are people everywhere whom I want to and can in fact help.
From the start, when people would call me at night and ask for help, I would just cry on the phone with them. But now, I am more composed.
Being a volunteer isn’t a profession. The journalists who interviewed me from PBS asked, do you feel that you must do this? I suppose that I just don’t know how to be any other way. I mean, here you see a family with children, and they are passing through, and they need help. I remember that I would see cars at the gas stations with license plates from Kharkiv, which was heavily bombarded in the early weeks of the war, and I would just give people packages of food, money, anything. They wouldn’t ask for help, but I knew they needed it. I must help.
How to Help
Donate - The money goes directly to teams providing aid on the ground, who respond dynamically to the most urgent needs.
Fundraise - Organize fundraisers at your school, work, place of worship, with friends and family, etc.
Spread the word - Share our website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn with your friends, family, and colleagues.
Fill out this form if you’re interested in volunteering with us, and we’ll let you know when opportunities come up.
Download and print our flyer. Ask your local coffee shop if you can add it to the bulletin, or use it as part of your fundraiser.