3 Ways to #StandWithUkraine
Q: How are you interconnected with the Ukrainian people? How will you honor that interconnection?
We are interconnected. In so many ways. And the more we are aware of our interconnections, and the more we strengthen our interconnections, the more peaceful and prosperous and sustainable a world we can inhabit together.
Early in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, my sweetie reached out to colleagues from Ukraine, now living in the United States. As the invasion continues, more brutal each day, news from friends confirm the worst of the news from journalists. Several app icons on my computer are now blue and yellow.
It turns out that many of the people who make my digital life a little easier each day live in Ukraine. I don’t know how many degrees of separation that is, but it’s close. So, the title of this post is their call to action and hashtag, and the content of this post are recommendations on how to help from the companies MacPaw and Readdle. Both companies write great software, so checking them out is a way to help too.
The origin stories of the Ukrainian organizations listed below are a reminder that the country has been at war with Russia since 2014. Without global attention, they have created organizations to support themselves through war and towards self-determination and democracy.
This is my current response to my Ukrainian connections’ call to action and to my need to make a difference:
- Sustain and nurture my existing personal connections to Ukraine
- Donate to an organization (or two) directly supporting the Ukrainian people.
- Participate in the political process and strengthen democracy at home
The Ukrainian people will survive. For now, I’ve chosen to give to Voices of the Children so that the Ukrainian people might survive for generations with their spirits intact. I’m also going to share my thoughts with those whom I have elected into positions of power, to use that power to protect those whose lives are being sacrificed to a fantasy of empire.
Ukrainian-led Organizations
Although I can’t personally vouch for the organizations below, the list comes from Ukrainians that I implicitly trust by relying on their software every day.
Humanitarian Support
- The National Bank of Ukraine has a humanitarian aid fund.
- Nova Ukraine is a US non-profit providing humanitarian aid.
- Ukrainian Red Cross Society provides. A wide range of emergency response in Ukraine.
- Voices of the Children provides psychological and social support to Ukrainian children affected by war.
- Razom is a US non-profit that has bee organizing projects and people to foster democracy and prosperity in Ukraine since 2014.
- The BCU Foundation is a Canadian non-profit that supports the Ukrainian-Canadian Community.
- SOS Ukraine provides assistance to elderly, lonely, and disabled people, and is raising funds through the Polish Siemopaga Foundation.
Defense Support
- The National Bank of Ukraine has a military aid fund.
- Come Back Alive NGO provides Ukrainians with technology, training, and ammunition for defense.
Direct Support
- Host a Ukrainian family through UkraineNow
- Send good to Ukraine with Nova Poshta Global, a shipping company moving goods to and within Ukraine.
Help Other Species
- UAnimals is an animal rights organization in Ukraine.
- White Rock Bear Shelter is a bear shelter near Kyiv.
International Organizations
Until humanity can finds its humanity full-time, international organizations funnel aid where its needed.