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How to Help Ukraine and Ukrainian Refugees

We’ve been asked by several people where people in the U.S. can donate to in order to help Ukraine. Below are several reputable organizations and fundraisers.

Nova Ukraine

Humanitarian Aid – Fundraiser on Facebook.com

Donate via Facebook Campaign: https://www.facebook.com/donate/1137971146948461/5313902711988404/

Donate via Website: https://novaukraine.org/donate/

Ukrainian Congress Committee of America

Humanitarian Aid – Fundraiser on MightyCause.com

https://www.mightycause.com/story/M1wzpf

United Ukrainian American Relief Committee

Humanitarian Aid – Fundraiser on GoFundMe.com

https://www.gofundme.com/f/humanitarian-aid-to-victims-of-war-in-ukraine

Razom for Ukraine

Healthcare and Education and currently has an Emergency Response Fund – Donations directly to their organization on their website (multiple types of funding options)

https://razomforukraine.org/donate/

AmazonSmile

You can also help each time you shop on Amazon through the AmazonSmile program. Here are directions on getting it setup.

SaveLife.in.ua / Come Back Alive

For people who are interested in helping front line soldiers, SaveLife.in.ua / Come Back Alive is probably the best non-governmental organization to donate to. They accept donations via credit card (through Fondy.com), wire transfers and cryptocurrency (Bitcoin and Ethereum). Please note that some people in the U.S. have experienced issues with having their credit card successfully processed with Fondy.

Help Ukraine When Shopping On Amazon

Did you know you can help Ukraine anytime you shop on Amazon.com through their AmazonSmile program?

What is AmazonSmile?

AmazonSmile is a simple way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. AmazonSmile is available at smile.amazon.com on your web browser and can be activated in the Amazon Shopping app for iOS and Android phones. When you shop with AmazonSmile, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added benefit that AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. You can choose from over one million organizations to support.

What is the AmazonSmile Charity Lists program?

AmazonSmile Charity Lists is a meaningful and easy way for you to shop and donate items directly to charities in need. Simply find the charities you’d like to support, add items from their lists to your cart, and check out – it’s that easy. To learn more, visit smile.amazon.com/charitylists or tap Charity Lists on the “Programs & Features” menu in the Amazon Shopping app on your mobile phone.

How do I shop with AmazonSmile?

To use AmazonSmile, simply go to smile.amazon.com on your web browser or activate AmazonSmile in the Amazon Shopping app on your iOS or Android phone within the Settings or Programs & Features menu. On your web browser, you can add a bookmark to smile.amazon.com to make it even easier to return and start your shopping with AmazonSmile.

How do I activate AmazonSmile in the Amazon Shopping app?

AmazonSmile is available for Amazon customers with the latest version of the Amazon Shopping app on their mobile phone, including Android devices with version 7.0+ or iOS devices with version 12+. To activate AmazonSmile in the Amazon Shopping app, simply tap on “AmazonSmile” within the Programs & Features menu or Settings and follow the on-screen instructions.

Some Recommended US Based Charities

Nova Ukraine

Palo Alto, CA

Nova Ukraine’s mission: 1. Provide humanitarian aid to vulnerable groups and individuals in Ukraine. 2. Raise awareness about Ukraine in the United States and throughout the world. 3. Support Ukraine in its effort to build a strong civil society, to reform its educational system, and to eliminate corruption.

Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA.org)

New York, NY

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit representative body for the nearly 1.5 million Americans of Ukrainian descent. Our umbrella organization unites some 20 national Ukrainian American organizations, and nearly double that total in local coordinating branches nationwide. The UCCA’s mission is to support cultural, educational, and humanitarian activities that emphasize the Ukrainian American heritage and to provide support for Ukraine’s newly…

Razom

New York, NY

Razom’s mission is to foster Ukrainian democracy and civil society through a global network of experts and organizations supporting democracy activists and human rights advocates throughout Ukraine. Razom serves primary Ukraine and United States of America. We focus our efforts on: 1) Amplifying voices from Ukraine in conversations around the world 2) Increasing civic engagement

United Help Ukraine

Gaithersburg, MD

United Help Ukraine, Inc. is a non-profit charitable organization receiving and distributing donations, food and medical supplies to Ukrainian IDPs (internally displaced people), people of Ukraine affected by Russia’s invasion into Eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, families of wounded or killed for freedom and independence of Ukraine. Our activities focus on fund-raising events, raising awareness of the crisis in Ukraine by engaging individuals, organizations, private and government…

Selecting a Charity on Your Phone or Tablet Amazon Shopping App

1. Select Programs and Features button on the bottom right of the Amazon Shopping App

2. Scroll Down

3. Tap Settings

4. Tap AmazonSmile

5. Tap Turn on AmazonSmile

6. Tap Next

7. Tap Turn on AmazonSmile

8. Scroll Down

9. Tap Change Your Charity

10. Type in Charity Name and Tap Search

11. Tap Select on the charity you want to support

12. You will see the confirmation page stating that you are now supporting the charity

Selecting a Charity on Your Computer or Mobile Browser

1. Visit https://smile.amazon.com/charity/my-impact

2. Search for a charity

3. Select your charity

4. Confirmation Page

5. Shop on Smile.Amazon.com

You can support your charity by using the URL: smile.amazon.com when shopping. To make it even easier, you can add a web browser extension to automatically redirect you to the smile.amazon.com URL anytime you visit amazon.com.

Apple Safari – https://apps.apple.com/de/app/smileallday/id1180442868?l=en&mt=12

Google Chrome – https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/amazon-smile-redirect/ejglonclnjogoiegggjjcpapffbnangg

Mozilla Firefox – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/amazon_smile_redirect/

Opera – https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/amazon-smile-redirect/

Use a Generic URL Redirector Extension – https://einaregilsson.com/redirector/

 

How to Use Fondy to Send Money to SaveLife.in.ua with Your Credit Card – (Come Back Alive – Повернись живим)

Save Life / SaveLife.in.ua / Come Back Alive / Повернись живим is a Ukrainian NGO that was created by Vitaliy Deynega in 2014 to help provide bulletproof vests to soldiers fighting Russian backed separatists in Donbas.

Here are some links about the organization:

SaveLife.in.ua – https://savelife.in.ua/donate/en/

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Back_Alive

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/backandalive/

Fondy is a London based payment processor

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/fondy

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/FONDY.Europe/

How to donate money with your credit card to SaveLife.in.ua using Fondy

How Anyone and EVERYONE Can Help Ukraine

Dear friend, your actions matter. Your voice can be decisive to strengthen Western resolve and protect the security of Ukraine, Europe and the democratic world. Act NOW! See thread with a few simple steps to support Ukraine

Russia invaded Ukraine. Russian missiles and military are targeting civilian infrastructure and killing innocent people in Ukrainian cities. Russia attacks not only Ukraine; it attacks the whole of Europe. Ukraine defends its own independence, and peace and democracy in Europe.

Leaders and heads of governments of your countries expressed their support and condemned Russian aggression. This is not enough. We need decisive actions to stop Russian aggression now and avert further loss of human lives, ruining of the security order in the entire Europe.

You can help. Please support Ukraine by urging your governments to act:

1. Call your MP to urge strong economic sanctions: banning Russia from SWIFT, fully isolating it, stopping all business, oil and gas embargo, providing Ukraine with more defensive weapons, ammunition, money

2. Donate money to support the Ukrainian Army. You can transfer money to the following accounts:

?? https://bank.gov.ua/en/news/all/natsionalniy-bank-vidkriv-spetsrahunok-dlya-zboru-koshtiv-na-potrebi-armiyi

?? https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate/

3. Organize street protests in your city to support Ukraine and condemn Russian aggression

Your actions matter. Your voice can be decisive to strengthen Western resolve and protect the security of Ukraine, Europe and the entire free and democratic world from a new revanchist force in Europe. Act NOW!

Originally Posted by Ukraine’s Official Twitter Account – https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497294422354055171

How to Wire Money to SaveLife.in.ua – (Come Back Alive – Повернись живим)

Save Life / SaveLife.in.ua / Come Back Alive / Повернись живим is a Ukrainian NGO that was created by Vitaliy Deynega in 2014 to help provide bulletproof vests to soldiers fighting Russian backed separatists in Donbas.

Update: After a few days, I can see a confirmation of my wire within their Financial Statements. The statements can be found by visiting https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate/, scrolling to the bottom of the page, and clicking on the link for “2021-2022 years”.

Update 2: I just saw on my mobile banking app that TD Bank is refunding wire transfers to Ukraine from February 17, 2022. You can check with your bank to see if they are doing the same.

Here are some links about the organization:

SaveLife.in.ua – https://savelife.in.ua/donate/en/

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Back_Alive

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/backandalive/

Today, it is a major volunteer fund for body armor, equipment, night vision, etc. for front line troops fighting a war against Russia. Yesterday, Patreon suspended their account that had about $250,000 donated to it.

On their site, https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate/, they offer several payment options. If you click the “To Contribute” button, it will take you a page on Privat24.ua (in Ukrainian) which is PrivatBank, the largest commercial bank in Ukraine. For international transfers, their options are Fondy, a London based payment processor, details to send a wire transfer and their bitcoin wallet address.

If you haven’t sent a wire before, you will need to visit your bank or nonbank provider, such as Western Union, and provide them with details related to who will receive the money. It is a very fast way to send money but once the wire is sent, you have no recourse on getting your money back so be 100% sure that the information entered is correct. There are also some fees involved for most accounts so you may want to call your bank or look up fees online.  The fees for me were $50 to send the transfer and there is an estimated $25 fee for Save Life / Come Back Alive.

Before you leave to send the wire, please visit https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate/ and print out the details under the SWIFT section including the IBAN Code, Name of the Bank, Bank SWIFT Code, Company Address and maybe the purpose of payment. If you are sending US Dollars, use their US Dollar IBAN Code. Once you get to your bank, you will either need to provide them with funds to use or use available funds from your account. Then they will input the details from your print out and provide you with copies to review. One item to note is that the full name might be too long for your bank. For my transfer, I used “International Charitable Foundation” and the bank included the full name in the notes that were sent with the wire. The account # and address should help ensure that the wire goes to the correct place. Make sure to double check all information is correct. From there, you will sign the documents and the wire will be sent.

Below are scans of documents you may be given to review and sign.

SWIFT Wire Transfer Details

Wire Authorization Form

Pre-payment Disclosure

Receipt

Fundraiser: Ukrainian Culture center of Columbus, OH

The Ukrainian Culture center of Columbus, OH  is a non-profit organization, a human  service agency offering a varied program that is Slavic in nature. It is committed to enhancing  the quality of individual and family life through the promotion of physical, intellectual and spiritual wellness. It provides educational and cultural programs that reflect the Ukrainian heritage, health related activities and many services to the community at large.  Through its wide array of programs, the KUCC pursues its mission of strengthening the individual, family and community.

In summer 2017 we are hosting a festival to introduce our city into Ukrainian culture and traditions in order to gather more funds to help people in need. Our goal is $10000-15000 to organize the Festival. The more we get the more people will get help. All our donations are tax deductible.

Thank you everyone for your help and you are always welcome to visit our festival.

 

The festival is planned to be hosted at St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church (5858 Cleveland Ave, Columbus, OH 43231).

 

Below is a link to the group’s GoFundMe page:

https://www.gofundme.com/ukrainian-festival?ssid=805349197&pos=1

Ukrainians, Register with the Holocaust Survivors Registry

Are you, a parent, or a grandparent a survivor of Nazi persecution? The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC wants to hear your story!

The USHMM maintains a database (known as the Benjamin and Vladka Meed Registry of Holocaust Survivors) of the names of “all survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi-era persecution–whether or not currently living–in order to record their experiences for future generations, assist survivors and their families in attempts to trace missing relatives and friends, and provide reference to scholars of the Holocaust, genealogists and members of the public.”

Staff members of the USHMM who gave a presentation for the recent meeting of the Ukrainian Heritage Consortium of North America indicated that they are making a major effort to reach out to non-Jewish victims of the Nazi regime. They are looking for all Holocaust victims, which they define very broadly as any persons “who were displaced, persecuted, or discriminated against due to the racial, religious, ethnic, social, and political policies of the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945.” They were also quite clear that this includes all Ostarbeiters (forced laborers), including Ukrainians. A person need not have been an inmate of a Nazi death camp to qualify as a “Holocaust victim”!
If you or an ancestor was a forced laborer in Germany, was arrested by the Gestapo as a result of religious or political activities, or was arbitrarily executed by the Nazi army, then we urge you to register in this database.

The USHMM web site has registration forms in both English and Ukrainian! The victim need not be alive: you can register individuals posthumously.

If more ethnic Ukrainian victims of the Nazis register with this database, this will allow scholars to get a more complete picture of the havoc wrought by the Nazis on both the Jewish and non-Jewish populations of Ukraine.

Originally posted on https://www.ukrhec.org/news/register-holocaust-survivors-registry

Help the 25th Territorial Defense Battalion Kyiv

Donate Now

We beseech all our friends, Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian – all who care about helping in a direct and meaningful way – to donate whatever dollar amount you can. Ivan personally buys all necessary items that are needed, or organizes the purchases of these items from abroad if they are not available in Ukraine. All money is documented and an itemized receipt with photo is sent to us which will be posted.

Items that the young men are in need of include: helmets, bullet-proof vests, flashlights, pocket knives, ponchos, foodstuff, etc.

This equipment, which is not provided for them, is invaluable to their safety. In a concerted effort, we can be directly involved in trying to protect and save as many lives as possible from the frightening situation these boys, as well as countless others, will face.

Please read Ivan’s Plea or Watch the Youtube Video Below

“I appeal to you not as an activist or politician, I appeal as a patriot of my country! Very soon this Battalion will go to a real war, where every day die Ukraine soldiers for our freedom! These soldiers have parents, children, wives. We all want to have these soldiers returned alive. We ask you to help!!! These soldiers need military equipment and supplies. On fundraising, please contact Ivanka Zajac or Romanka Zajac in the United States. We are looking for your help! Слава Україні”

Donate Now – https://www.crowdrise.com/helpthe25thbattalion-kyiv/fundraiser/romankazajac

Facebook page for this campaign

#RussiaInvadedUkraine – What You Can Do

Friends,

Russia has crossed the line the West has warned against for months. In response, President Barack Obama said on Thursday the United States and its allies would look for ways to expand economic sanctions on Russia, but stopped short of calling the recent Russian aggression an invasion. It would be great to find out just why the most powerful country in the world is afraid of a “regional power” and won’t use the words WAR or INVASION. But words are one thing, action another.

Ukraine needs help NOW. Western governments should have been providing Ukraine military equipment for months, be it anti-tank, anti-aircraft, or equipment designed to help Ukraine secure its border. Ukraine has demonstrated its military competence during the ATO fighting with merely Soviet-era equipment. Our soldiers have excelled in Iraq, Afghanistan and other international endeavors when fighting alongside American troops using NATO-standard equipment.

H.R.5190, the “Ukraine Security Assistance Act of 2014” was introduced in the House of Representatives in July 2014 and provides military assistance to Ukraine and designates Ukraine as a Major non-NATO Ally (MNNA). The bill was drafted in a bipartisan manner and is co-sponsored by Reps. Jim Gerlach, Marcy Kaptur and Sander Levin, co-chairs of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus. Furthermore, this bill currently has 4 Democrats and 6 Republicans sponsors. Congress is returning from a month-long vacation next week and will only be in session for 2 weeks at the start of September. While many initiatives seem to be dead on arrival, we have the opportunity to pass bipartisan legislation designed to get Ukraine the help it needs.

Find your Congressional representatives here: http://whoismyrepresentative.com/ or http://votesmart.org/ and ask them to support the “Ukraine Security Assistance Act of 2014.”

Also tell them about H.R.5241, the “Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act,” which would prohibit the United States by law of recognizing the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, de juro OR de facto. This bill was quietly introduced by Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA) in July, but would put into law what we all believe: Crimea is Ukraine.

Finally, let’s get some real sanctions. No more waiting for Europe. Following the model used against Iran, the US can UNILATERALLY forbid dollar transactions with Russian financial institutions, forcing Europe to go along. Just like with every other rogue state, it has always been the United States’ responsibility to lead. At the very least, freeze the assets of every Russian oligarch’s funds who gained their money illegally. US law clearly states that no ill-gotten capital should be allowed harbor in US institutions.

Let’s call the White House and State Department, with emails/phones/faxes demanding the President’s threats of new sanctions be backed up and retaliatory action taken against the thugs ordering the attacks on the people of Ukraine. Call the White House today:
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414

Email President Obama at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments
Email Secretary of State Kerry at: http://www.state.gov/contact/

Furthermore, you will have an opportunity to follow-up with your Member of Congress in Washington during yet another “Ukrainian Day” of Advocacy on Wednesday, September 17 and Thursday September 18: http://www.ucca.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=7&Itemid=24&lang=en

Originally posted on Facebook by Andrij Dobriansky

Verified (Legitimate) Ways to Help the Ukrainian Army

The Ukrainian Army is still working to create peace and stability in Ukraine, but needs all the help it can get. Euromaidan Press has created a list of verified ways to help the Ukrainian Army that provides a summary about each initiative as well as details about how to donate or support the cause. Below is a list of the different verified groups. Visit EuromaidanPress.com for more details.

Based Abroad

  • Patriot Defense
  • Helping Ukrainian Soldiers
  • GIVE SO OTHERS CAN LIVE – Save lives of Ukrainian people
  • Ukrainian-French support groups (AMC.UKR.FR)
  • Open Dialogue Foundation (Poland)
  • Ukraine-Canada Coalition
  • Euromaidan Canada

Based in Ukraine

  • Come Back Alive
  • Wings Phoenix
  • ATO Sister of Mercy
  • Army SOS
  • Volunteers’ Hundred
  • EuroArmyMaydan
  • Saving lives in Ukraine
  • Joint Army support project
  • Ukrainian Freedom Fund

Other Ways to Help

  • Help with transporting supplies
  • Purchase and ship medicines