Ukraine, How to Help

I got this list from a newsletter I get from the folks at the never Trump website The Bulwark. It looks like a good list, and I trust those folks not to link to anything stupid. But as with anything, check and beware

Jack

How to Help

With luck, Ukrainians will eventually get all the help they need from various governmental organizations. So I don’t think there’s much need for normal folks to try to donate, say, weaponry. The way to leverage giving is to try to find the cracks where large-scale assistance takes longer to ramp up.

So here are some organizations that people have suggested to me that might be useful ways for you to help.

International Red Cross: Surging aid to refugees fleeing to Poland.

Ukrainian Red Cross: Direct aid to the in-country branch.

World Central Kitchen: Getting food to refugees and to those who remain in Ukraine.

MOAS: Helping to bring medical aid to Ukrainian civilians.

JDC: Getting aid to vulnerable Ukrainian Jews.

Ocalenie Foundation: A Polish group helping refugees as they arrive.

Caritas: Has two in-country organizations helping with personal kits, water, and information for displaced Ukrainians.

Razom: Medical supplies and democracy protection.

Kyiv Independent: A free-press operation reporting from Ukraine.

Timothy Snyder has some more direct places to give, because of his on-the-ground contacts in Ukraine. See here. And Professor Beth Gazley, who studies nonprofits, has a short, helpful guide on how to get the maximum leverage for your donations.

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58 thoughts on “Ukraine, How to Help”

  2. with love from us in the US of A to Ukraine

    zelensky: “Fortunately, we are not alone in this battle. Ukraine has sincere friends. Good partners… the one who has friends can do anything…”

  4. david horsey’s ‘toon and op ed today

    Hitting Putin where it hurts | The Seattle Times

    […]

    Now that tyrant finds himself bogged down in what he thought would be a lightning conquest of Ukraine, resorting to shooting missiles at refugees and maternity hospitals in a savage attempt to impose his will. In response – and in addition to many other aggressive economic sanctions – President Joe Biden has announced Americans will no longer be customers at the big Russian gas station. Simultaneously, the European Union announced plans to cut oil and gas purchases from Russia by two-thirds by the end of the year.

    Tragically, the Ukrainians do not have that much time. Even with the Russian economy in freefall, Putin is unlikely to halt his rampage. Like an unhinged mafia boss whose criminal enterprise is coming apart around him, he will kill with increased fervor and, in the process, will make us all despairing witnesses to his war crimes.

  5. Zelensky says Russian forces kidnapped mayor of Melitopol – UPI.com

    […]
    “Obviously, this is a sign of the weakness of the invaders. They did not find any support on our land, although they counted on it, because for years they have been lying to themselves that people in Ukraine were supposedly waiting for Russia to come.”
    Zelensky said that Russia has “switched to a new stage of terror” because of the lack of support for the invasion among the Ukrainian people and “are trying to physically eliminate representatives of the legitimate local Ukrainian authorities.”
    “The actions of the Russian invaders will be equated with the actions of ISIS terrorists. The whole country saw that Melitopol did not surrender to the invaders.”
    Zelensky also said that Russian troops had disrupted the work of most humanitarian corridors that had been established to evacuate and help civilians in the country.
    […]
    Doctors Without Borders said in a statement Friday that the humanitarian crisis in Mariupol, another city in eastern Ukraine, is “extremely dire” as Russian forces continue the shelling of the city.
    The humanitarian organization said it cannot enter the city to provide aid and civilians cannot flee, with residents suffering from dehydration, skin infections caused by crowding and respiratory infections as well as the spread of COVID-19.
    “In Mariupol, our teams report that many families do not have enough water, food and medicine. For small children this can be particularly dangerous,” Kate White, an emergency manager with the aid group, said in the statement.”In Mariupol today, there is hardly any safe place and the sound of gunfire, shelling and aerial bombardment is ever-present.”
    [continues]

  6. some are helping the old-fashioned way

    No pasarán: anti-fascist slogan takes on new significance in Ukraine crisis | Ukraine | The Guardian

    New generation of volunteers are answering Ukraine’s call to join war effort, in echo of Spanish civil war

     

    When the anti-Putin activist Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a member of the Pussy Riot punk group, was tried for blasphemy in Moscow in 2012, she wore a T-shirt emblazoned with a defiant raised fist and the Spanish slogan “nopasarán”: they shall not pass.

    The phrase is associated with the Spanish civil war, which Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has made terrifyingly relevant – especially as volunteer fighters from across the world gather to defend the country from his attack.

    No pasarán became a slogan for the 35,000 volunteers of the International Brigades who travelled to Spain from more than 80 countries to defend its legal government from fascist-backed aggression. About 2,300 or more set out from Britain and Ireland. Another 2,800 left the US, forming the Abraham Lincoln Battalion – the first racially mixed US military unit led by a Black officer, Oliver Law.

    [continues]

    They shall not pass – Wikipedia

    Image result for no pasaran

  7. Today the groundhog got his revenge. 6” snow overnight and a high of 30. Damn rodent. 

  9. Yeah, I had a friend whose company did a matching fund, so a bunch of us pitched our money in with his so it would do more good. 

  10. https://reasonstobecheerful.world/ukraine-refugees-home-share-airbnb/

    “When the Irish government set up a website for people to offer accommodation to Ukrainian refugees, so many hosts signed up on the first day that the website crashed.”

    “…Host a Sister in 2019… The online hosting platform connects women looking for friendships and a safe place to crash. In contrast to paid sites like Airbnb, all accommodations on Host a Sister are free — even bartering is frowned upon.”

    “Within hours after the Russian invasion, however, a surge of offers started filling the site: “We have space for a mother and two children.” “Big house, big hearts.” Most of the pictures of guesthouses and futons are hashtagged #Ukraine.”

    “The EU is invoking an unprecedented little-known emergency rule that grants Ukrainians the right to immediately stay and work in the EU for at least three years. In the U.S., the Biden Administration announced that the roughly 34,000 Ukrainians who arrived in the U.S. before March can apply for a temporary protected status so they can legally work and live there. The U.S. has also signaled that, while it expects most Ukrainian refugees will stay close to home in Europe, it is open to expanding the number allowed into the U.S. beyond current caps.”

  11. Patd

    Shelter Box tends to concentrate on refugees of one sort or another who have nowhere else to go.  They are currently working with other NGOs to see how they can help, but in the case of Ukraine most of the people are on their way to other countries who are willing to take them in.

    The agencies listed are more for direct, immediate need but if those crowds in some of the train stations get any larger, their tents with supplies may come in handy, but right now the others are more useful.

     

  12. While avoiding most of the horrible news from Ukraine I still see headlines.  One that is popping up more often now is that Poland and other former Soviet Union countries are preparing for KGB agent Putin to invade them too.  The world has changed since the Cold War ended and the old Soviet Union was broken up.  If not stopped by his generals, the few that are still around, or his body guard troops, I have no doubts that he would continue trying to rebuild the old beast. 

    As is obvious to any of us who saw the invasion of Hungary, Poland and Germany by Russia knows those attacks and take over did not drag on the way the invasion of Ukraine is taking.  The rest of Europe grew and prospered while Russia returned to the bad old days of a Stalin type.  I have said many times that KGB agent Putin is determined to destroy America and it looks like the current attack, as seen by what used to be the Republican Party doing its best.  President Biden has a lot going on to defend America from enemies foreign and domestic.

  13. is the new russian military symbol for hatred “Z” a short cut for words of war or is it merely half of a swastika and an attempt by vlad to be a half-assed adolf. i think it’s the latter but this guy suggests otherwise.

    yahoo:

    Kamil Galeev, a former Galina Starovoitova Fellow on Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at the policy think tank the Wilson Center, tweeted that some interpreted the “Z” as short for “za pobedy” — the Russian term for “victory.” Others have guessed the “Z” is short for “zapad” (or west) and is meant to designate west-bound infantry.

  14. It’s Not Inflation, It’s Greed – Wonkette

    […]
    It would never occur to most people to think “Oh, wait, these companies are actually taking advantage of a crisis and doing some opportunistic price gouging,” because in a free market, no one ever charges more than the fair market price for things.
    Except that is exactly what they are doing. A report released this week by government watchdog Accountable.US analyzed the earnings data of the top three corporations in several major categories and found that the amount they raised prices did not simply cover an increase in operating costs due to outside factors, but rather led to generating profits for their shareholders. Big profits. Combined, these companies put $151 billion in increased profits into their own pockets and the pockets of shareholders.
    “Across nearly every single industry that is measured for price changes, we’re seeing highly profitable corporations demand more money for consumer staples that families depend on without a good reason why,” Accountable.US president Kyle Herrig said in a statement. “These companies would have consumers believe they marked up prices just to keep up with outside costs, but the tens of billions in extra profits and generous giveaways to investors last year show otherwise. It simply doesn’t add up. Despite what they claim, these highly profitable businesses do have a choice, and they’re choosing to fatten their bottom line rather than keep consumer prices stable.”
    [continues]

     

    uncle joe also noticed the trend a couple of weeks ago:

  17. Of course, oil/gas is engaged in price gouging.  There are also drilling permits that they are not using; too much supply is a bad thing for their wallets.  While it’s a good thing for the environment that there is less drilling than possible, well, let’s just get away from fossil fuels as much and as quickly as possible.

    https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/mar/09/joe-biden/fact-checking-bidens-claim-there-are-9000-unused-o/

    “At the end of 2021, there were about 9,000 approved permits to drill on federal and Indian lands. Those permits included those issued under Biden and those still active from Trump’s administration.”

    “Before drilling, companies assess whether it makes economic sense to drill immediately or wait.”

  20. Good work Jack –
    Trump’s plane had to make an emergency landing the other day , hence the new plane .
    I hear there are several one’s coming on the market  out of Russia.

  22. On the topic of Ukraine aid, unless I missed something it seems like Hollywood not kicking in as I would expect. Figured there would be a big telethon or the like in the works by now

  24. I watched the US Farm Report this morning instead of Popeye , lots of grim news coming out of that quarter as well.
    The one exception ,  …….. Biofuels  raise the ethanol number from 10% to 15% in gasoline .  The folks in Iowa say they could do it really fast , a lot of idle capacity in that system. 
    Good politics as well.  ( I am not a fan of of this industry in the US .  Turning food into fuel is a bit crazy to me , along with other problems it entails. ) 
    Otherwise , it was grim.
    They listed the countries where all that Black Sea grain goes .
    First off in War , you can’t insure the cargos, so that is going gore Putin’s OX as well .  The destroyed  infrastructure is going to be the bottle neck , even if they could cut their winter wheat.
    Ports, roads, bridges, etc.
    Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan , the Philippines,  etc. those are the folks that will be affected first. 
    Black Sea grain is a lower quality , hence that list. 
    And the cherry on top, the USDA has been lowering the forecast for the South American crop for the last month.
     

  26. Drilling is not going to fix the price of gasoline , anymore than another bump on the pipe is going to cure a crackhead. 
    I love the way we get stretched over the barrel , and yell “Drill Baby Drill”. 
     
    Craig –
    Good point abut “Hollywood”  time for John Stewart to step up.
     

  27. When Stalin took Eastern Europe the Red Army had several million men under arms , and  plenty of folks who had just spent 5 or 6 years under Hitler. 
    They were wearing boots made in Mass., and riding Harley Davidsons. 
    Putin and his cronies are reading their own reviews. 
    I saw a list last week , Russia VS NATO 
    The Russia has 5,000 fighter jets ,  NATO has 25,000 .
    Lord knows how many of those Russian planes are sitting up on cinder blocks. 
    If he’s going to accept 18,000  men from Syria, and not pay them.
    Well, he’s over the barrel. 

  29. OM – exactly why things are crazy in the puttie bubble.  Will some unknown hero break the launch button so it cannot be used? Apparently people in the Pentagon did something while SFB was waddling around the WH.

  30. Donald Trump asked if US troops were in Ukraine in 2017 at a meeting with then-President Poroshenko.

    The revelation was made in a new book by former US ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

    “It was disconcerting that he did not seem to know where we had our troops deployed,” she wrote.

    President Donald Trump asked whether US troops were in Ukraine during an Oval Office meeting with then Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko in 2017, according to a new book by former US ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, seen by The Guardian.
    At the meeting, Trump asked his national security adviser HR McMaster if US troops were in Donbas, a territory in Ukraine claimed by Russian-backed separatists.
    “An affirmative answer to that question would have meant that the United States was in a shooting war with Russia,” Yovanovitch wrote in the book, according to The Guardian.

     
    https://news.yahoo.com/former-us-ambassador-describes-awkward-102750183.html

  33. This fuel crisis  is different  than all the others . 
    There are work arounds  now .
    Some guy is working  on a car pool app that links people going the same way every day.  There are electric bikes , Ford is rolling out that EV F-150 pick-up.
    The list of options is long now, this is not 1979 when I was yelling at the Iranians on that mountain above Nephi , Utah . 
    The world is rolling over. 
    Ukraine doesn’t need a 1000 “Warthog” tank busters , it needs little drones  that shoot tanks in the ass.  Flown by men who grew up playing “Grand Theft Auto”.  

  34. Only the Russians would draft people on “April Fools Day” .
    Although , I think our retreat from the draft was one of the biggest mistakes we ever made. 
    And I beat that thing like a drum , and my draft number in 1970 was 38.
    We should have expanded it into “National Service” , not just the army . I would have gone willingly into that. 
     
    That was one of the great fissures we sowed at that time.  But it was an easy out for the sons trying to get into the National Guard to defend us from the Mexican Airforce. 

    Now , it’s yet another line that divides us all.

  36. Who gets more fossil money  than anyone in Congress  ?
    Joe Manchin running the same old con …….
     

    Shares in oil and gas companies are on average about 20 percent higher than they were a year ago, thanks to record profits brought on by steadily rising oil and gas prices. But these companies aren’t using their surging profits to try and lower prices for the public or create “American stability.”
    Last year, the four largest oil and gas companies made over $75 billion in profits, returned billions to their shareholders through record dividends and share buybacks, and handed out millions in compensation to their chief executive officers

  37. Daniel Yergin  wrote , The Prize decades ago.  The classic history of the oil business. 
    John D was up to his eyeballs in kerosene once he cornered our market  . 
    He took a page from the rail roads , he sent salesmen to China  lots of them with small free kerosene lamps. 
    That’s how good this book is.  I saw that old dog on TV last week explaining why we take Russian oil. 
     
     

  38.  Look at every oil rich place on Earth , only Norway has has not been turned into a cat toy  of money. 
    Oil is not an Oreo . 
    Nigerian oil makes the best gasoline in the world.  You have burnt  that in your car.  Has this long history made the Nigerians  better off ? 
    Not at all . 
    The list of failed or rotten  states  is very long . 
    When the words “Good Government:” pops up , Louisiana is not at the top of the list. 
    The really evil thing , is that when it was found , it was always sold as making everyone better off. 
    Not the boom and bust casino it is . 

  39. The future –
    You have your space , it is covered in solar “paint” , and a battery ,  and an e – car and it’s battery.  
    Exxon is dead. 
    This is  the future , and they know it . This is why Manchin is floating on a sea of money. 

  55. This all happened  when we let giants swallow  little stations .
    Back in the 90’s , Now one guy programs  a thousand stations. 
    Like the banks , this was Republican idea. 
    How’s that worked out for us ?
     
    Big is not better for anyone.  Butterflies , banking,  cowboys, or music. 

  56. Craig – Help is coming from the arts community. My guess is that it’s a bit disjointed coming together because covid is still with us.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10603915/Mila-Kunis-husband-Ashton-Kutcher-raise-20-million-Ukraine-one-week.html

    “Ukrainian-born Mila Kunis and husband Ashton Kutcher reveal they’ve raised more than $20 million for Ukraine in one week.”

    “We have raised over $20 million in less than a week. And I say we because it’s all of us together. Some people didn’t have the means to give, and they’ve done an unbelievable job of getting the word out and sharing it. But we’re not done. Our goal is $30m, and we’re going to get there.”

    https://www.npr.org/2022/03/07/1084870832/artists-will-perform-in-a-benefit-concert-for-ukrainian-families

    “And the Washington Arts Ensemble concert will be held at Natalia’s home in Washington, D.C., April 3, with a second one planned a few days later.”

    https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/the-met-opera-will-host-a-benefit-concert-in-support-of-ukraine-030922

    “The Metropolitan Opera is joining the now hefty list of local organizations trying to lend a helping hand to the people of Ukraine. The iconic institution is hosting a concert dubbed A Concert for Ukraine on March 14 and all ticket sales and event proceeds will benefit relief efforts in the Eastern European country.”

    https://www.fox5vegas.com/2022/03/10/concert-benefiting-ukraine-be-held-sunday-las-vegas/

    “Las Vegas musicians are coming together to perform for Ukraine. The Las Vegas Sinfonietta, a smaller group from the symphony orchestra, will present a benefit concert featuring works by Mozart and Ukrainian composers.”

    https://variety.com/2022/music/news/ukraine-benefit-gogol-bordello-patti-smith-1235202042/

    “As bombs continue to pummel Ukraine, musicians gathered in New York Thursday night to protest Russia’s war against the nation and raise funds for its defense. The Benefit for Ukraine at New York’s City Winery assembled a lineup of mostly local rock legends who “stand with Ukraine in the battle for its democracy and freedom.”

  57. https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/11/tech/us-digital-dollar-cbdc/index.html

    “Part of President Joe Biden’s executive order regarding digital assets on Wednesday includes “placing urgency on research and development of a potential United States CBDC, should issuance be deemed in the national interest,” according to an accompanying fact sheet released by the White House.”

    “A key difference from current forms of digital cash in a bank account or payment app is that the money would be a liability of the Fed and not commercial banks — hence the “central bank money.” This means it would be an actual US dollar in digital form, not an investment in a cryptocurrency or a holding in your PayPal.”

    “It would be based on the fiat currency of that country, so it would be based on the money supply — and then it would be implemented using a government database or approved private sector entities working with the government.”

    “A significant tech decision for policymakers, according to Hammer, is whether a US central bank digital currency runs on a blockchain, the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, as it would throw federal government weight behind this emerging tech.”

    “The risk of political abuse is huge,” Yermack said. “If you give the central bank this kind of power, the political safeguards would probably need to be much higher than currently in place for the Federal Reserve.”

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