In my work with the Army of Good, I’ve learned that the best way for me to help people is one at a time, one person or family at a time, to think in terms of small acts of great kindness.
(Help Alina, Aleks, and Irena get out of Ukraine here.)
There is so much need and so much suffering, even before the war on Ukraine, it can be overwhelming.
We are trying to help two recent Ukrainian refugees we know to get their two grandchildren and daughter out of danger and into the United States.
For a relatively small amount of money, we can save three members of a Ukrainian family, not just everyone or anyone but Alex, Irena, and Alina be reunited with their parents and grandparents.
They can soon be living safely in the United States, their awful nightmare behind.
Crises like this are overwhelming.
We can’t save everyone in Ukraine, but we can help some.
I think of it as helping people on a manageable and comprehensible scale – small acts of kindness that yield large results.
Here’s a chance to help, the kind I’ve been looking for. We know who we are helping and where our money is going. We don’t help causes, we help people.
Aladin and Nataliya are trying to get them here; they come from Ukraine. They are family. Two children, Aleks and Alina, are trapped there, along with their daughter, Alina.
Aladin and Nataliya own the Slavonian Cafe in Troy, New York.
They work incredibly hard, especially after the pandemic, by going to local farmers’ markets on weekends all over the region after they nearly lost their cafe.
They’ve been coming to our farmer’s market for several years; that’s how we know them. They are unique to us and many others.
They are lovely to know, gracious, warm. We consider them friends. The money will pay for travel expenses, airline tickets and vias for three people.
Aladin often saves a special salad for Maria or me; he won’t let us pay him for those.
They make all kinds of inventive and delicious food and salads. We visit them at their van every time they come.
They need help right now. Alina, Aleks, and Irena are trapped in Poland, they had to flee their homes as Russian bombs and missiles fell around them.
Life for the Ukrainian refugees is both difficult and dangerous, Poland is overwhelmed by the millions of refugees coming into their country.
They need to get their family to safety with them.
People often thank me for giving them opportunities to help. This is a good one. They are almost certain to get visas into the United States.
A friend of theirs has asked for $8,000 on a gofundme page set up by neighbors. They’ve already raised more than $5,500, and I hope we can help them go over the top.
They are the most excellent, gentlest people, so worthy of help.
We hope to see them next Sunday; they are scheduled to come to our farmer’s market. They work day and night.
I’d love to help them see what America is truly about – a country of great heart and compassion. That is certainly true of the Army Of Good.
You can help them by going here, and thank you.
Jon, they are safe in Poland. We have friends in Kyiv who are in far more desperate circumstances.We have no means if knowing whether they are alive or dead.
Erika, with the greatest respect, you and I have very different definitions of safe.
These three people are homeless, living in strangers’ attics or camps with tens of thousands of refugees, almost all of them strangers. They struggle for food, clothing, and shelter. They have survived a horrific experience and have nothing left but one suitcase for all three of them.
There is not enough food or shelter or medicine for the millions of refugees from Ukraine now in Poland, it is a human catastrophe, according to the United Nations, and they are terrified. Their grandparents are sick with worry. It would be an honor to help them get here safely.
Two children and a granddaughter are hardly safe in that environment, just ask any one of the Bishop Maginn refugee children, or follow any of the stories coming out of the camps. Women and children in camps are vulnerable targets for all sorts of harassment, theft, and brutality.
There are many millions of people in our world – Myanmar, Ukraine, Africa, India, Indonesia, Brazil- who are suffering greatly from civil war, genocide, climate change, starvation, disease, repression, and war. I wish I could help them all, but if I can help these three children get to their family in America for a few thousand dollars I am happy and grateful to be able to do it.
If they couldn’t leave unless every endangered person in the world was safe, they would never get out. Most of the Bishop Maginn refugees were in camps for five to 12 years.
I am well aware of the suffering in Kyiv. My grandmother was from there, and much of my family remains there, those that the Nazis didn’t kill. I’ve learned in my life to do what I can, one person at a time.
We are not together on this, but we are on many other things. You should donate to whoever and whatever you wish, of course.
Thank you for sharing this and vetting. I’ve made a few donations, but can spread it around a bit and knowing exactly how the money is being used is helpfu.
Thanks Therese it is overwhelming, good on you for wading through it..
Jon, I’m confused. If the children are as young as the photo suggests why aren’t they with their parents already? I may be missing something. I don’t have much to give, but I’m careful to what I contribute to. This idea of helping families directly appeals to me. I’m so, so upset over what is happening to Ukraine. It seems Putin is blackmailing the world because of his nuclear capabilities.
Jean, this was my fault, I took the information and misread it..it’s a daughter and two grandchildren, my mistake, thanks for thinking about contributing we have $6,000 out of the $800 they are requesting (it was $6000 this morning,) but the need is very genuine, these are good and honest people I know them well..it’s hard to know how to help, for me it’s focusing on people, one at a time..
Sorry, I read that again for the 3rd time and I know understand these are grandchildren.
That was my fault, Jean, I got the wrong information first time or misread it..it’s clear up now..my fault not yours..
I thought it was 2 adult parents and 1 grandchild. But either way thank you for your very thoughtful and lengthy reply. Yes, we aren’t always in agreement but my goodness you are a very interesting ( and useful!) blogger–one of the best on the Internet.
You are pretty interesting yourself and I appreciate it. Initially, I did write that they were all young and two were children. There are two children and a mother. The information was coming fast and furious and there were some language issues, but it was my mistake and it is corrected now. I did somewhat understand your message, it appeared as if you were saying the kids didn’t need to be worried about it, they were safe. I get somewhat cranked up on these things, asking people to offer money is a tough thing for me to do, and this one got to my heart, as Aladin and Natashya are such sweet and caring people. I meant it when I said you are a special voice here, this is the heartfelt truth.
You would be bored to death if you agreed with me all the time..No point in reading me then. Thanks for existing.
Initially, the gofundme was for $6,000, but after the blog posts, they upped it to $8,000. That bugged me at first, and then I thought about it, and they were savvy to see where the wind was blowing and up it. They will need every single penny of it, so I don’t begrudge them that and will push it some more. I see they are just about up to $7,000 so they will get there, and I am very happy about that. Aladin and Natashya are among the sweetest and most caring people I know, and they work themselves nearly to death. Maybe having their family here will slow them down. I’m eager to meet them, and hopefully, get their photos.
Thank you for alerting your readers to this opportunity to help a Ukrainian family find safety with other family members in the US. It’s exactly the kind of “charity” that I have been looking forward to donating to, something personal. As you said, we can’t help everyone, but the ones we can help will be incredibly blessed by it.
Hi Jon Great work here to help the three. I am sure most folks are just learning what an impossible seeming situation it is to help and make a difference. You are right to aim for one family at a time and your effort will be visible and rewarding when the family is safe here.
I myself, pulled off a fundraiser on Facebook for World Central Kitchen this past week. WCK is feeding tens of thousands of Ukrainians as they get off trains in Poland and setting up other food networks to do the same in different areas in Poland along the Ukraine border. It had been very frustrating to me to see all those amazing paintings on Social Media of sunflowers with proclamations of solidarity. I had to do something.
What became apparent was folks who contributed to the fundraiser had been looking for a way to help and by providing an incentive(I am giving away one of my favorite sunflower paintings) and posting a couple times a day stories from the organization, in 48 hours $2500+ was donated to the fundraiser. I had given it till April 3 to get there. I will be doing a live drawing of the winner on FB -if I can figure that out -Tomorrow 8pm. Nonetheless I am amazed at the response. It is just like the response to your fundraiser. People are looking for ways to help.
My point in letting you know about this is artists can do something to help. I am hoping to inspire others to figure out their own way to help out and let their own connections help by contributing to artists fundraiser. The interesting bit about FB, it is using it to do good! They do all the processing of donations and take no processing fees. All the money goes to Not For Profits. All I have to do is keep track of who donated and get their names in the draw then send the work to the winner. I also posted to the page a couple of times a day to keep it up in everyones awareness and thanked everyone for their donation. I have no doubts that Go Fund Me is doing the same as I have contributed to several of these locally in the past.
This story is going to go on for a long time. The need will be there too. I am just hoping to inspire others to find their own way to help and hope it continues.
Thank you for all your good work. D