Dear friends and supporters of Ukraine in the Carolinas!

Today marks eighteen months since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. Also today, Ukrainians and friends of Ukraine around the world commemorate Ukraine’s 32nd Independence Day, honoring those who died defending freedom and many more who are fighting now to protect Ukraine and the rest of the free world.

Because of the generosity of wonderful friends and supporters like you, over the last year, Ukrainians in the Carolinas have raised almost $91,000 in monetary contributions and more in in-kind donations for our Ukraine Relief efforts.

We have raised over $25,000 for drinking water for those Ukrainian localities left without it. Last fall, we were able to source our second water filtration system for the city of Mykolaiv, and over the last few months, we secured funding for our third water filtration system. This time it is being built for a village outside of Kryvyi Rig in southern Ukraine that was left without any water supply because of the ecocide Russia committed when it destroyed Kakhovka’s dam, flooding Ukraine’s most fertile lands and destroying Kakhovka water reservoir that supplied drinking water to the region. We were also able to transfer $1,500 to our local partner organizations in Kherson, the region recently liberated and flooded by Russia in June, to purchase boats, boat engines, life jackets, and other needed supplies for the recovery efforts there. We also helped source protective gear and tactical medical supplies for newly recruited Kherson volunteers.

We raised $20,000 to help build modular housing for 350 Ukrainian Hospitallers paramedics who need a place to rest and recuperate after exhausting frontline rotations. We also sourced and sent to Ukraine (through our amazing “flying couriers”) hundreds of CAT tourniquets, bone injection guns, chest seals, and other tactical medical supplies worth over $11,500, as well as over 70 SAM junctional tourniquets worth over $21,000. We shipped numerous in-kind donations of medical supplies generously provided to us by local Triangle hospitals to Ukraine’s frontline hospitals. In addition to sending these life-saving supplies, we helped source in Ukraine bulletproof vests for Ukrainian volunteers and generators for those who were left without heat last winter. We are grateful for every volunteer, every supporter, every donor, every dollar, every tourniquet, every water filter, every piece of luggage donated, every sunflower sold for Ukraine, and every prayer and kind thought and deed you all have contributed towards Ukraine’s victory!

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We continued advocating for more military assistance.

Patriot missile defense systems for Ukraine seemed impossible just a year ago, but today they protect Ukrainian cities from nightly attacks. F-16s that were once a dream recently became a reality! Our elected officials in Washington, DC approved substantial funding for US military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, and we will not stop advocating for more until Ukraine is victorious. We are so encouraged to see new Ukrainian communities sprouting throughout the Carolinas, in Wilmington, Fayetteville, Charlotte, Asheville, Greenville, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, and we are proud to collaborate with our new and old partner organizations throughout the Carolinas, the US and around the world in order to help Ukraine!

Raleigh-Durham is now home to hundreds of Ukrainian families that came to the US on the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) humanitarian parole program.

Our Ukrainian newcomers continue receiving so much support with housing, legal assistance, food, clothing, medical and dental visits, English instruction, and school supplies from our local community and their amazing American sponsors. Our local churches and government organizations, small businesses, and refugee assistance groups joined in welcoming and helping our Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war, and we are very grateful to all of you for supporting Ukrainian families in the Triangle. Our community has grown over the last year, and we are looking forward to opening our Ukrainian Cultural Center and Ukrainian School on September 10. This community event will take place at the Ridge Road Baptist Church in Raleigh from 4 pm to 7 pm, and we invite all of our friends and supporters of Ukraine to join us to enjoy Ukrainian dance, music, poetry, and food!

Today, as Ukraine marks its 32nd modern Independence Day while honoring its millennia-long cultural heritage, we encourage you to continue displaying Ukrainian blue and yellow and connect with your Ukrainian friends and family! Many in Ukraine are not able to celebrate, as Russian terrorists continue to assault and destroy every day. That is why it is more important than ever for all of us to show our solidarity with Ukraine now, to stand up in support of Ukraine, and to call for more military and humanitarian assistance! We are grateful to our local partners for supporting Ukraine and our Ukrainian community in the Triangle, and this year, the North Carolina Courage, our women’s soccer team, will be celebrating Ukraine at its home game on Sunday, August 27 at 2 pm! Please come out for a great game of soccer and help us celebrate Ukraine’s courage and resilience!

We thank you for continuing to support Ukraine! Слава Україні!

Your Ukrainians in the Carolinas volunteers

https://www.ukrainiansinthecarolinas.org/donate

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