September 28, 2024
Great news! Back in January we raised $21,975 to deliver medical supplies and automatic electronic defibrillators (AEDs) to frontline ambulances in Ukraine. It has taken several months, but finally we can report the delivery from Poland to Ukraine of 11 BeneHeart C1A AEDs and a BeneHeart D30 AED. These AEDs have been installed in frontline ambulances operated by the rescue service of the Red Cross of Ukraine.
We would like to again thank our many donors, and especially our Platinum Sponsors Wegmans and aTonalHits, our Silver Sponsors The Rochester Academy of Medicine, and our Bronze Sponsors Allison L. Giordano, MD and The Ukrainian Federal Credit Union for their incredible support in making this important delivery possible.
On April 16, 2022 we sent the Good Neighbors Aid Shipment for Ukraine, 48 lbs (21.8 kg) of over-the-counter medicines, allergy medications, and other prescription medications to Kharkiv. These were items donated from a collection in our neighborhood, a simple gesture of assistance from Rochester to Ukraine. Last week the shipment arrived, and these medications have been distributed to local families. Our colleagues in Kharkiv, and their patients, wish to express their gratitude!
@rocukrainemedrelief was in the news a couple of times this week!
We spent some time with WXXI’s Evan Dawson on his show Connections on May 18, 2022. Also in the conversation were Elena Dilai and Irene Burke from RocMaidan, as well as Alex Wagenblass from Artists for Ukraine. You can have a listen here.
And then we were featured by Ally Peters on WROC on May 19, 2022. You can check that story out here.
On April 23, 2022 we sent over-the-counter medications and prescription allergy medications to the 1st Children’s Polyclinic (a pediatric outpatient office) in Kharkiv…and this week the shipment arrived! The allergy medications were generously donated by Dr. Manisha Relan, pediatric allergist in Albany NY.
The medications in Kharkiv, ready for distribution.
On April 7, 2022 we sent $6,071.50 worth of prescription anti-seizure medications, as well as ondansetron, a commonly used anti-emetic, to our colleagues at the Kharkiv City Children’s Neurological Hospital No. 5 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. We used Nova Poshta’s humanitarian shipment route, and anticipated delivery might take around ten days. That was overly optimistic. Earlier this week, the shipment finally arrived. It took longer than we had hoped, but considering we were shipping into a war zone, and Kharkiv has been under constant bombardment by Russian invaders for the past several months, some delay was inevitable.
Recently a doctor at the regional hospital in Cherkasy, Ukraine reached out to a member of the local Ukrainian community and told how they were losing 20 patients a day with war-related wounds because they did not have sufficient antibiotics. This is just another example of how shortages of simple medications that we take for granted can prove to be life threatening.
We have great news today! Our April 3 shipment arrived in Kharkiv this week. You may recall this was a shipment of 103 lbs (46.8 kg) of wound care supplies generously donated by Dr. Ralph Pennino and the InterVol medical aid organization.
This shipment contained bandages, gauze of all types, Coban wraps, drain sponges, abdominal pads, and many other items to care for serious injuries.