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.
For the past several weeks we have been focusing on logistics to get medical aid to hospitals and clinics in the area of the Kharkiv region that was liberated in September 2022. Many of the towns in the region had been under occupation since March. One such town is Izyum (population 46,000). When the russians were sent packing in September, they destroyed much of the infrastructure on their way out and left behind mass graves.
We are excited to announce an upcoming fundraising concert to benefit the Ukraine Medical Relief Fund hosted by the Allendale Columbia School!
WHERE: Allendale Columbia School, 519 Allens Creek Road, Rochester NY 14618 WHEN: Saturday, December 3, 2022 from 7 – 9 PM Violinist Katha Zinn and pianist Illya Filshtinskiy will perform a program of classical and holiday music with the Allendale Columbia’s student choruses. Katha and Illya are Julliard-trained and play amazing music, a sampling of which can be seen on their YouTube channel.
Last week the used ambulance that we purchased in France with the help of our many donors arrived at the Kharkiv Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital #1, after being driven across Europe!
Our donors will be happy to know that an ambulance with Rochester markings is now in service in the streets of Kharkiv, transporting children to medical care.
Our good friends at RocMaidan contributed $5000 toward the purchase of this ambulance, and we are forever grateful for their donation and for their ongoing, tireless, generous service to the people of Ukraine.
The ambulance that our donors purchased for the Kharkiv Children’s Regional Hospital No. 1 will leave France for Ukraine stocked full of medical supplies. The Kharkiv Children’s Regional Hospital No. 1 treats children from the entire Kharkiv region (meaning the oblast beyond Kharkiv city). As they have the best pediatric surgery program, this is the hospital where all the children injured by shrapnel are admitted and cared for. When children are admitted, they literally live there with their parents for the duration of the admission.
Dr. Oksana Leontieva, вічна памʼять.
On October 10, 2022 Dr. Oksana Leontieva, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at the Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv was one of those killed in yesterday’s russian missile attacks. News reports state that she was killed while driving to work after having dropped off her 5 year old son at kindergarten.
So many in Ukraine have lost their lives, and the loss of yet another colleague caring for sick children is very hard.
Today we began the process of transferring 14,000 euros (about $13,600) to our contacts in France to purchase a used ambulance for the Kharkiv Children’s Regional Hospital No. 1. This ambulance is gorgeous. It is a 2015 vehicle, and comes equipped with oxygen kit and suction, as well as side door ramps for wheelchairs. This is a different vehicle than we originally had our eye on, but we like it even more.