It’s about time to give an update on the fundraisers for Ukraine that we have been involved in over the last year and a half. Last winter, we shipped 3,500 safety reflectors to kids in Kyiv which we posted about here. It was quite a project and we could not have done it without help from others here in the Chicago area and beyond. We are grateful for the students from the honors program at Evanston Township High School, who spend a few hours after school to attach chains to the reflectors. In an amazing team effort, about ten students chained over 3,000 reflectors in no time! An anonymous local donor and the Danish-Ukranian organization “Bevar Ukraine” helped us ship the reflectors to Ukraine. This included another 500 safety reflectors that we were able to send in November of 2023. The Kyiv Police posted some pictures here in March of 2023, when the first batch arrived.
Safety Reflectors Raising Money for Ukrainian women in Sweden
Before we received the request for safety reflectors, we used some to raise funds for Ukrainian women in Sweden. In 2022, we donated 120 safety reflectors to SWEA, the Swedish Women’s Educational Association, which is a global network of Swedish Women living abroad. Across the world, SWEA was raising money for a project in Sweden, where Ukrainian refugee women in Sweden with a background in health care, received Swedish language education and help fining jobs in Sweden. The safety reflectors contributed to raising around $700 in chapters across North America. Globally, SWEA raised about $100,000, and it was their largest donation ever to a single cause. There is more information here (in Swedish) about the donation to “Beredskapslyftet” and the Ukrainian Professional Support Center in Stockholm.
Fundraiser closed
For now, we have closed our fundraiser for Ukraine, but if you want to help, you can donate directly to our partner in Denmark: “Bevar Ukraine” who are still very active or to any of the organizations listed in this NPR article.
Thanks again to all who are helping those who are in distress because of wars!
