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.
Our donors are amazing. In a few short weeks we’ve been able to raise several thousand dollars toward the purchase of a used ambulance for the Kharkiv Regional Children’s Hospital No. 1. Of the $14,000 needed, we have crossed the $12,000 line. We are nearly there!
This past weekend we spent time with Pediatric Urgent Care of Rochester at their Back to School Health Fair, and raised enough money to fill that ambulance with its first tank full of diesel. We would like to thank Pediatric Urgent Care of Rochester for hosting us, every amount helps!
Join us this Saturday, September 10, 2022 at the Back to School Health Fair sponsored by Pediatric Urgent Care of Rochester! We will be on site from 12 – 4 pm. Come support our mission to deliver medications and supplies to Ukrainian hospitals, and you can also participate in the fun activities of the Health Fair that will include:
The Ukraine Medical Relief Fund was in the news again a couple of times last week.
WXXI, our local public radio station, did a story about our efforts to deliver medications and supplies to Ukrainian hospitals. You can read the story here.
Drs. Alex Paciorkowski, Olga Grygorieva, and Yuliya Snyder.
And our local NBC affiliate, Channel 10, released a video that you can watch here.
An important event this past week was also the brief visit to Rochester of our colleague, Dr. Olga Grygorieva, a pediatrician in Kharkiv who has been a recipient of several shipments of aid from our fund. We were able to hear first hand from Dr. Grygorieva what is currently needed by her patients, and the news is difficult. While the invaders have been pushed back a bit from around Kharkiv city, there continue to be regular Russian rocket and artillery strikes, which mostly affect civilian infrastructure. There continue to be daily casualties and lives lost. Many people have lost their jobs and income due to the war, and are having trouble making ends meet. Therefore any aid is much appreciated, as people may not be able to pay for things on their own. Dr. Grygorieva also had this message: “Please don’t forget about us.” She will be returning to Kharkiv, and her patients, in the coming week.
SAVE THE DATE! SEPTEMBER 22, 2022.
Polska Chata is Rochester’s premiere Polish restaurant and deli. They serve amazing food, and have something for everyone.
Join us on September 22, 2022 from 4 – 8 pm. We will have a selection of unique gifts available for donors, including memorabilia from Ukraine and t-shirts.
There will be a special Ukrainian dessert for sale – and all proceeds go to support our efforts. We can’t wait!
The Ukraine Medical Relief Fund has been very busy as of late, doing a lot of outreach and making connections, fundraising, as well as responding to requests from Ukrainian hospitals for medications and supplies, and organizing shipments. Recently, a volunteer traveling to Poland offered to carry a suitcase with donated medications for us – and how could we turn that down?
Last week, the suitcase was picked up in Poland and arrived to Dr. Tetyana Nehrych, child neurologist at the Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital. The shipment included anti-seizure medications levetiracetam, divalproex, and topiramate, as well as other supplies.
We have received a request from the Kharkiv Regional Children’s Hospital No. 1 for an ambulance to transport sick and injured pediatric patients to their emergency room. Through our contacts we have found a used ambulance, located in France, and it’s a real beauty.
It’s a 2017 vehicle, fully equipped for patient transport, and only has 280,000 km on the clock. The asking price is $14,000, which is very reasonable given some other vehicles we’ve looked at that cost more but are not fully equipped.