April 23, 2024
This past week our December Medical Supply Shipment arrived at the Kharkiv Regional Clinical Hospital, shipped courtesy of our good friends at RocMaidan. Thank you RocMaidan!
As you may recall, this shipment included 270 lbs (123 kg) of medical tube feeding formula used for patients who have had a gastrostomy tube placed due to an injury and illness, and need a way to receive nutrition during their recovery. Also included were supplies to care for patients who have a tracheostomy placed.
Last week our partners at Future for Ukraine Foundation delivered the first part of the project funded by the winter concert organized by 8th grade students at Allendale-Columbia School together with classical musicians Katha Zinn and Illya Filshtinskiy (@aTonalHits). FFU delivered hospital beds with specialized mattresses designed to aid rehabilitation from orthopedic injuries to the University Clinic of the Bohomolets National Medical University, in Kyiv. These beds will be used in the care of soldiers wounded on the frontlines, and we are honored to make this contribution possible for Ukraine’s defenders.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) today issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation and Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation. They are charged with the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute).
In January 2023, pediatric oncologists at the Kharkiv Children’s Hospital No. 16 reached out to the Ukraine Medical Relief Fund asking for help purchasing an Abbott i1000 immunochemical analysis machine for their pediatric cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. The machine is used to measure drug levels to help avoid side-effects and drug toxicity during treatment. Previously, these patients were sent from Kharkiv to Kyiv for their care, but the activities of Ukraine’s terrorist neighbor have made it impossible to transfer these patients safely.
Not everything always goes according to plan. Back in October 2022 we sent three boxes of medical supplies to France with the intention that they would arrive in time to be placed in the ambulance we purchased and delivered to the Kharkiv Children’s Regional Hospital. The boxes contained $1900 worth of wound care supplies, personal hygiene items, as well as flashlights. Part of the shipment was intended for the hospital in Balakliya, in the Kharkiv region liberated from the invaders last September.
We have more wonderful news to share with you. This week we delivered three electricity generators and three space heaters, as requested, to the Kharkiv Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital. As you are aware, the terrorist state has continually targeted civilian energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine this winter, and Kharkiv has been especially affected. Outages of electricity and heat negatively impact all of the normal operations of hospitals, which do not have the back-up infrastructure to meet challenges on this scale.
Great news! This week the Ukraine Medical Relief Fund received the funds raised last month at the successful holiday concert organized by the 8th graders at Allendale-Columbia School in Rochester, NY, with a wonderful performance by Katha Zinn on violin and Illya Filshtinskiy on piano.
The Allendale-Columbia School 8th grade students presented us a check for $8337.51. We will be immediately putting these funds toward a humanitarian aid project for a Ukrainian hospital, and are currently discussing the logistics with our partner Future For Ukraine Foundation.