Want to help Ukrainians? Here’s how to donate and volunteer from NC.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many are wondering how to best help the people of Ukraine and Ukrainian Americans in our local communities.
Many Ukrainians were able to flee ahead of the violence, but a large number remain in their homes there, living with uncertainty and fear.
“Right now, they can’t find food, they’re running out of food — it’s quite a crisis,” said Dar Draper, executive director of The GLOW Mission, a Kannapolis-based organization that helps Ukrainian orphans and Ukrainians aged out of the orphanage system.
“I pray that they can get food when they need it, and they need money ready for when things are available.”
And the struggle in Ukraine is not new.
“Even before the most recent crisis, years of violence in Ukraine have forced more than two million children, women and men from their homes and left them struggling to survive,” USA for UNHCR, a United Nations relief agency, wrote on their website.
“Nearly three million people in Ukraine will require humanitarian assistance this year. Those fleeing for their lives need immediate shelter, protection and safety.”
According to the 2019 US Census American Community Survey, there are 8,693 people born in Ukraine living in North Carolina. About 1,000 of those people live in the Triangle, and more than 5,600 live in Charlotte.
In a recent interview with ABC11, Oleh Wolowyna, the Vice President of the Ukrainian Association of North Carolina, put the number at closer to 20,000 people in the state, when you factor in direct descendants of people born in Ukraine, with about 4,000 of those people in Raleigh.
Advice from an NC group helping Ukrainians
Driven by their Christian faith, Draper and her husband, Andrew, felt compelled to support Ukrainian orphans after hosting one in their home in Davidson in 2015.
They began The GLOW Mission in 2017 and moved to a house right outside of Kyiv in 2021, she said. At the time of the invasion, there were 11 Ukrainians sheltering in the house’s basement, including GLOW team members and orphan grads, she said.
The GLOW Mission is currently working to connect Ukrainians to people in surrounding areas, like Poland, for safe shelter.
If you or anybody you know can host Ukrainians in surrounding areas, contact info@glowmission.org or visit their website at glowmission.org.
Here’s how she recommends North Carolinians help:
▪ Gather and pray: “As a believer, I’m about prayer, and I know miracles can happen,” Draper said.
Prayer and other expressions of solidarity can bring people together in difficult times.
▪ Give: “The average income for a Ukrainian family is about $300 to $400 a month, and this crisis is astronomical,” Draper said.
Check out the list below of humanitarian organizations in search of donations.
▪ Look out for opportunities: “I know a lot of people in Raleigh that have hosted Ukrainian orphans,” Draper said. “If you know someone who’s adopted or hosted a Ukrainian orphan, reach out to them. Pray for them. Deliver them a home-cooked meal. That’s how we can express love and knit people together right here.”
Humanitarian organizations helping Ukrainians
Here are some humanitarian organizations you can support to help the people of Ukraine. Find links on websites to make a monetary donation, and you can contact these organizations to see if there are any other ways you can help.
▪ Aid Legion: “Aid Legion is an optimistic charity foundation. We deliver aid from the whole world to Ukrainians defending freedom and to innocent civilians displaced by the war,” the website says. The Compact Field Hospital project supports a team of paramedics who organize a mobile medical unit in Kyiv. Info: aidlegion.com
▪ Alight: Alight has a rapid response team in Poland helping Ukrainians headed there. “If Ukrainian families can’t go home, Alight will help them to find peace and safety wherever they shelter,” Alight CEO Jocelyn Wyatt said via a press release. “We’re listening to what they need right now, and we’re working to make sure they have all the essentials.” Info: wearealight.org
▪ Baptists on Mission: The NC-based group has long worked with Ukrainian groups, including in the Carpathian region since 2008 with the Roma Partnership. The groups are providing temporary housing for displaced families and food and supplies to families in Ukraine. Baptists on Mission is accepting monetary donations so that they can supply non-perishable food, toiletries, sleeping bags, mattresses, blankets and other essential needs for temporary housing. Give online at baptistsonmission.org/ukraine-crisis/donations or by check: Baptists on Mission, P. O. Box 1107, Cary, NC 27512. Memo: Ukraine Crisis
▪ CARE: CARE is working with People In Need as their local European partner. “Give now to rush urgently needed water, food, hygiene kits, and ongoing support in Ukraine,” the website says. Info: care.org and peopleinneed.net
▪ Doctors Without Borders: “Access to health care remains limited for people living along the contact line of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 2014,” the website says. Doctors Without Borders provides physical care, focusing on HIV and COVID treatment and prevention, and basic mental health care is offered to patients, too. Info: doctorswithoutborders.org
▪ Gift of the Heart: “Dar Sertsia” (“Gift of the Heart”) is a charity foundation that helps fund the cardiac surgery department at Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital “The Center of Cardiac and Vascular Surgery at Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital remains the only place where about 15-20 million Ukrainians can receive the whole scope of highly specialized treatment of heart diseases,” the donation page on the fundraising website JustGiving says. “The Cardiac Surgery Department urgently needs additional funds to secure a steady supply of medical equipment and surgery consumables to meet the increased demand for high-quality medical care.” Info: justgiving.com/fundraising/cardiac-surgery-lviv
▪ GoFundMe: GoFundMe.org, an independent nonprofit that works closely with GoFundMe, established a Ukraine Humanitarian Fund. The nonprofit is working with many groups, including the U.S. Department of State and Global Giving, to identify organizations providing effective relief to those currently impacted by this crisis, according to a press release, and GoFundMe is verifying each fundraiser. Info: gofundme.com/c/act/donate-to-ukraine-relief
▪ International Medical Corps: Your donation can help expand access to medical and mental health services for those living in impacted communities, the website says. Info: internationalmedicalcorps
▪ Nova Ukraine: This is a nonprofit organization “dedicated to raising awareness about Ukraine in the US and throughout the world and providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine,” the website says. Along with monetary donations, this organization is also asking for people to volunteer their time with projects like creating infographics and fundraisers. Info: novaukraine.org
▪ The Ukrainian Red Cross: “All funds will be used to help those in need, affected by armed conflict, blood collection, mobilization of volunteers and resources, and emergency activities,” the website says. Info: redcross.org.ua/en/donate
▪ UNICEF: ““UNICEF is deeply concerned that intensifying hostilities in Ukraine pose an immediate threat to the lives and wellbeing of the country’s 7.5 million children,” Executive Director Catherine M. Russell said through a spokesperson. “Unless the fighting subsides, tens of thousands of families could be forcibly displaced, dramatically escalating humanitarian needs.” Info: unicefusa.org/helpukraine
▪ UNHCR: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is also known as the UN Refugee Agency. “You can help ensure that families fleeing violence around the world know they are not alone at the most devastating moment of their lives,” the website says. Info: give.unrefugees.org
Organizations Ukrainians suggest we support
Here are three organizations recommended by Lyana Klymyuk Watson, a Ukrainian woman living in Apex. Watson has family actively fleeing the violence in Ukraine and has been working to help those in Ukraine while raising awareness to the situation there.
▪ Help for Ukrainian Children and Elderly: This Facebook fundraiser is accepting donations with a goal of $50,000. Info: facebook.com/donate/834634553963485
Watson endorses this Facebook fundraiser, noting that Masha Grineva, who began the fundraiser, has been doing a lot of good for Ukrainian children and the elderly before the war began.
“Please help collect funds for food, medicine and other necessary immediate needs,” wrote Grineva, who began the fundraiser on Feb. 24. “Any help would be a huge help now.”
▪ United Help Ukraine: This organization is providing medical aid and humanitarian relief to Ukranians on the front line of the war. Info: unitedhelpukraine.org
“Here is an organization that our Ukrainian community is working closely with. Legitimate and effective. You can donate directly through PayPal and read about their projects,” Watson wrote.
▪ Razom for Ukraine: This organization is focused on buying medical supplies for dire situations, such as blood loss. Info: razomforukraine.org
“We have a large procurement team of volunteers that tracks down and purchases supplies and a logistics team that then gets them to Ukraine. Through multiple meetings a day, we are coordinating with several partner organizations worldwide,” their website says.
Database editor David Raynor contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Want to help Ukrainians? Here’s how to donate and volunteer from NC.."
