Newsletter #18: Want to know what kind of impact your donations are having?

On Saturday June 4th, we shipped and fulfilled our 1,000th order of supplies for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Territorial Defense units, and local hospitals in eastern Ukraine!  That included coordination with thousands of people across Ukraine, and crossing hundreds of thousands of kilometers to get life-saving supplies in the right hands.  Your donations, your connections, your spreading the word, your support made all of this possible.  We can’t thank you enough, and we humbly continue to ask for your support.

Dear Razom community,

Thank you to all of those who’ve responded to our call to spotlight the 100 stories for 100 days of war (and counting).  We remain committed to sharing the stories of Ukrainians and the people and communities supporting Ukrainians, so keep them coming.  In the meantime, here’s Razom’s story: 

  • As part of the “Let’s start our hears together” campaign launched in Lviv last week, 68 AEDs valued at $81,192 are being installed across Ukraine.  33 defibrillators already made it to medical units and field hospitals on the front.  
  • Razom’s ever-resourceful TacMed team has managed to procure 1,000 iTClamps, an innovative blood stopping tool invented by a Canadian military doctor, that are already on their way and highly anticipated by combat doctors in Ukraine.  Procuring and delivering quality tactical medicine supplies is the difference between life and death in extreme, emergency situations. 
  • Razom helped deliver 65 Starlinks to Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Donestk regions so far.  These devices allow our defenders and emergency responders to coordinate and communicate more reliably, and from time to time call their mothers.    
  • In partnership with Smart Medical Aid, Razom helped procure, outfit, and deliver yet another ambulance to the front of the war.  You should know that on the photo below one of the medics pictured is a doctor from New Zealand who was inspired to help how she could after the invasion. 
  • Razom partnered with the Ukraine Prosthetic Assistance Project to develop and disseminate a brochure that answers questions about available prosthetics and rehabilitation in Ukraine, as well as recommendations for victims and specialists.  It’s estimated that hundreds of civilians and military personnel in Ukraine have suffered limb loss since the invasion.  We are proud to provide logistical support in the delivery of cutting-edge tech prosthetic components donated by Ossur in partnership with Prosthetika that will help over a dozen people who’ve lost limbs in Ukraine.  
  • Razom’s Hospitals Team secured a shipment of 8,000 IFAKs for Ukraine by partnering with Direct Relief who donated these supplies, with more to still to come!
  • Thanks to Integra Foundation’s donation of 2 pallets-worth of wound care, neurosurgery, neurotrauma, and neuromonitoring supplies, Razom was able to successfully distribute much needed medical equipment across different hospitals in Ukraine (ranging from military to children’s).
  • The long-awaited 27-pallets of medical supplies donated by our partner MedShare finally made it to Razom in Ukraine!  Thanks to MedShare’s partner Airlink, a rapid-response humanitarian relief organization that connects airlines and pre-qualified nonprofits to help communities in crisis, the entire logistics leg from California to Lviv was free. 

This week, Razom Board Member Maryna Prykhodko was in her hometown of Kharkiv, Ukraine and joined one of Razom’s grant recipients, Ukrainian Charity Allianceon a trip to deliver humanitarian aid to elderly and disabled persons living just 10 km from the border with russia in the community around the town of Zolochiv and the surrounding smaller villages who were under russian occupation for three months.  The community is in great need of assistance, especially the vulnerable populations.

Maryna helped hand-deliver bags of produce and goods along with Oleksii Kurtsev of Ukrainian Charity Alliance and a social worker and deputy of the community’s office.  The group also visited the Zolochiv Hospital, which is under fire every day, and the Skovoroda Museum in nearby Skovorodynivka, which was destroyed by russian rocket fire.  Everyone Maryna met and spoke with was so grateful for Razom’s support and Razom is so grateful for the devoted and committed work of our grant recipients who are making a positive impact on the ground in Ukraine. 

A piece of good news – Razom and the Dity My Vsygnemo (“Children We Will Make It”) social movement for children with SMA (and Razom partner) conducted their first “reverse” evacuation since the start of the war.  We helped a wonderful Ukrainian family, who was evacuated a few months ago, return home from abroad to Zhytomyr.  This means that Ukrainians know that our victory is not far away.

Below is a roundup of events (concerts, film screenings, gallery shows, and other fun community gatherings) we most recommend you check out.  Engage with brilliant voices from Ukraine and find exciting ways to support fundraising efforts.  We extend our gratitude to the communities in nearly every corner of the U.S. organizing to support Ukraine in the ways they’re able.    

In New York:

  • On Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11 at 7pm at the Ukrainian Museum, Director and Producer Andrea Odezynska debuts her new feature-length environmental documentary, Return Sasyk to the Sea, which spotlights the destructive legacy Ukraine inherited as a former member of the Soviet Union.  6/10 tickets here and 6/11 here (all proceeds go to Razom).
    • Marci Shore, a scholar of intellectual history and a Guggenheim Fellow, will moderate the Q&A after the screening on Friday 6/10.
  • Starting Friday, June 10 at 6pm the online virtual screening of feature documentary “A RISING FURY” about the war in Ukraine is set for a World Premiere with the Tribeca Film Festival.  The team has been filming over the past 8 years from the peaceful protest in Kyiv in 2013 to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
  • On Sunday, June 12 at 2pm The Timbres are hosting a concert fundraiser for Ukraine at Arlene’s Grocery in NYC.
  • Until June 23rd, Gallery Arte Azulejoin partnership with Mila Rabij Arts Consulting
    to presentYana Bystrova: Approaching a Chaotic Reality.  Currently based in Paris, Bystrova is from Kyiv and is a third generation artist in her family.  Her work has evolved from figurative to abstract and hybrid forms of expression, with a strong conceptual emphasis on color, the ambiguity of perception, and interpretation.  

In New Jersey: On Friday, June 10 at 7pm come experience Ukrainian art with Razom featuring music and art for sale.   

In Wisconsin: On Sunday, June 12 at 3pm the Olympia Brown UU Church in Racine will host a concert with music, dance, and stories to benefit Ukraine.  

In Virginia:  On June 24from 6-19pm the Beach Gallery in Virginia Beach is hostinga Hope for Ukraine Art Show & Silent Auction with all proceeds going to either Razom or the World Central Kitchen.  

In Ohio:

In Pennsylvania:  On Sunday, June 26 from 6:30-8pm the Pittsburgh Ukrainian community is hosting a concert at Carnegie Carnegie Music Hall to raise funds for humanitarian aid for Ukraine (including Razom’s work).

Thank you so much for reading this newsletter, for keeping up to date with Razom, and for your support of Ukraine.  We’re so glad to be on this journey together.   

Stay razom.



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