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.
Kharkiv, with a population of 1.4 million people, is Ukraine’s second largest city. It’s known as a “smart city” of education, because it is home to 13 national universities and many famous research institutes and other places of higher learning.
Dr. Yuliya Snyder agreed to sit down and share with us some memories of growing up in her hometown:
I grew up in what was considered to be a spacious three-room flat (in Ukraine they count the total room number – not the bedrooms) in one of the generic 16-story multi-apartment buildings. There were several in our complex and they all looked similar – I bet it would be easy for someone to get lost with them looking so much alike. As kids we got pretty good at spotting the windows of our flats out of a hundred of the same-looking ones: in case it was our mother who was yelling out of the window to go inside and have dinner. There was a playground in front of it with 2 swings and a metal slide. I don’t think it would have passed the US inspection standards lol I don’t remember spending too much time at that playground – we were always running around and playing games created by us. When I went back in 2013, the building looked the same, but the swings were upgraded. I’m really hoping that that neighborhood will not get hit by heavy shelling. My mom moved, but my best childhood friend still lives there.
Today $6,071.50 worth of prescription medications started its journey to Ukraine. This shipment (62 lbs / 28.1 kg) contains mostly anti-seizure medications, although we also included ondansetron, a commonly used anti-emetic. These medications were purchased with your generous donations from Blessings International through our partners at InterVol.
Blessings International shipped today to Nova Poshta’s New Jersey office, and Nova Poshta will then ship to Lviv, Ukraine. From there, the anti-seizure medications are tagged for the Kharkiv City Children’s Neurological Hospital No. 5 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. We anticipate the shipment will arrive in a week to ten days.
This is Dr. Neil Scheier, Rochester-area internist. He contacted us one day and told us that this week he was flying to Poland to serve as a medical volunteer with Ukrainian refugees. “It just feels like the right place to be right now,” he said. He offered to carry a couple of bags of donated medical supplies to our contacts in Warsaw. He didn’t have to offer twice. Here at @rocukrainemedrelief we are always looking for ways to get things across the Atlantic Ocean to where they are needed the most. Thanks to your donations, we had about 80 lbs (36 kg) of over-the-counter medications and hospital supplies ready to go.
On Sunday, April 3, 2022 we sent 103 lbs (46.8 kg) of medical supplies via FedEx from Rochester NY to the Nova Poshta office in New Jersey. Nova Poshta then ships to Ukraine, and we have tagged this shipment for the Prof. O.I. Meschanynov Emergency Medical Care Hospital in Kharkiv.
This is a very special shipment, as it contains wound care supplies generously donated by Dr. Ralph Pennino and the InterVol medical aid organization. We are so grateful for their support. These items are urgently needed in Kharkiv right now.
On Sunday, March 27, 2022 we sent 173 lbs (78.6 kg) of medical supplies via FedEx from Rochester NY to the Nova Poshta office in New Jersey. From there, the supplies will be shipped to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health in Lviv, Ukraine, and then distributed to Children’s Hospital No. 5 and Children’s Clinic No. 1 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. We have contacts at both locations.
When healthcare workers, particularly those who take care of children, put their minds to something – it makes a difference. Ukraine Med Relief raised over $17,000 in our first week not only from doctors and nurses and other hospital workers, but also from people from all walks of life who like us were tired of feeling helpless about the news from Ukraine. Hospitals bombed, humanitarian corridors attacked, even a theater marked “Children” where civilians were seeking shelter was bombed last week. But good people can make a difference, and even though we may feel small in the face of such a crisis, we are not alone. All around the world helping hands are reaching out to Ukraine. Our work will save lives, because we are all working together.