The images on TV of a war-torn Ukraine are gut wrenching. The devastation to beautiful European cities is sickening.  Over two million innocent civilians—mostly women, children and the elderly—have fled their homeland to (hopefully) relative safety in neighboring countries. Many others have tried to do so, but have been killed or wounded trying to flee.  Thousands of those who have stayed have met the same fate.  It’s a horrific situation that makes us realize just how much evil there is, despite our naïve beliefs that this could never happen again in our civilized world.

 

But within all of this misery, there is a good story to be told.  An uplifting story.  It’s the story of people, many of whom with no previous connection to Ukraine, have reached deep into their pockets to help Ukrainian communities.  And people have gotten creative.  In the midst of this humanitarian crisis, people have booked stays on Airbnb in Ukraine, not because they planned to stay there, but as a way to get funds to Ukrainians quickly. In fact, over a two-day period last week, more than $2 million was “earned” by Ukrainian Airbnb hosts, who were then able to use that money for food, medicine and other necessities.

 

A Virginia woman, originally from Ukraine, is raising money by holding borscht cooking classes and donating those proceeds to Ukrainian relief efforts.  To date, she has raised over $200,000.  On a larger and more global level, over 102,000 crypto currency donations, totaling more than $55 million, have gone to the Ukrainian government and Come Back Alive, a nonprofit providing support to the military.  In the UK, a Ukraine fundraiser spearheaded by the Disasters Emergency Committee, a group of 15 leading UK charities, has raised over £85 million ($111 million).

 

The outpouring of philanthropic support has been overwhelming, but not surprising. In times of crisis, we come together.  We dig deep and we pitch in.  As the go-to resource on fundraising, NYC-AFP is here to help you support Ukraine relief and other worthy causes. Our mission is to help you and your organization become more effective fundraisers.  It’s what we do!