Ukraine Refugee Assistance

Hi everyone!!! I hope you're doing well!!! 

I received the monthly transfer for the Moms and kids fund yesterday 

Thank you, guys, for continuing to support this efforts 

I already ordered the meds for Gary  hopefully I'll pick them up and send them to him in the next few days 

Well, let's move on...

What else was happening behind the scenes while we were preparing for the trip? 

While Bill was away on a business trip, spending his “free” time in a hotel room making trench candles, I was trying to finish up another idea.

Some time ago, Yarik came up with an idea for how to create a shelter for a big drone and a team of three people that would protect them from being detected by thermal imaging drones.
It’s a kind of dome or canopy that can be quickly assembled from small square modules and attached to tree branches or poles.

My task was to sew these modules, into which a heat-reflective material would later be inserted. This way, the drone team is hidden from thermal detection 

I sewed a couple of these modules, and Yarik tested them — it worked 

It looked something like this 

So now we need to make more modules. I honestly tried to finish everything before the start of our trip to bring it with us, but I didn’t make it in time 

Unfortunately, it’s not a 3D printer — it requires my hands-on involvement in the process 

But it’ll all be finished soon and sent over to the guys 

Cat control approves. 🐾

So, what else?

The guys are already somewhere on the way in Poland. Train tickets are bought (well, not all of them yet... yeah, we still need to figure out how to get back from the east to Kyiv), the customs declaration is filled out, the ambulance papers are ready...
At the last moment, I pick up a box of medicine for Dr. Julia — it needs to be packed properly since the vials are glass...
Mitsubishi??? Gotta do something about that — another round of late evening calls... 

Late in the evening (basically, sometime after midnight), I get a message from Cathrin (the guys are already in Poland, at the hotel) — she has a few boxes of medical supplies with her and she needs a customs declaration to cross the border — hmm... no problem... let’s do it now... ummm... i do it now  

In the morning, before heading to work, I call the guy again who promised to help with the Mitsubishi declaration, but I also send all the necessary documents to Bill, just in case 

By the time i get to my work, I get a message from Bill — we have the declaration!!! 
Yayyy!!! Ufff!!!

Some time later I get the long-awaited message — we're in Ukraine!!! All good!!! Border crossed!!! 

Now I can finally breathe a little — the guys are on their way to Kyiv, and my evening train is heading there too.
We’ll meet in the morning!!! 

Oh, Cathrin... 🤣🤣🤣

I forgot about her mentioning those meds to us in the hotel.  Jack and I were stunned completely silent.

"We've been working on our papers for WEEKS!  You're just starting NOW???" 😮

Holy smokes, everyone.  It is almost midnight on a Friday night but I REALLY wanted to get this update out to y'all. 

The estimated cost for the 4x4 we're raising money for is between $4000 and $6000.  As of today we are....

(wait for it)

woooooooooaaaaaaah, we're half-way there!!

Even better, we have a proper photo of the soldiers we're raising the money for!

We checked with the team, and we checked with Yaroslav.  They do not know each other personally, but that's not going to stop us from trying our best.  We found a decent variety of SUVs and pickups in our price range, but Mrs. Hungary REALLY has her eye on a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder for $5500.

This is a proper "body on frame 4x4", but the REAL reason?  The advertisement is boasting a rear differential locker

The problem is that it's 4-hours away, but let us worry about that part.  Until then, y'all have a great weekend!  (and I really can't say this enough:  THANK YOU!!!!) 

Also:  If you got a paypal notification, that was me.  I was so darn far behind on my messages, I was only JUST catching up this morning)

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

woooooooooaaaaaaah, we're half-way there!!

Great news!!!

crossed my fingers for success!!!

Gooooddd morning, Kiyv!!! 

The hotel where the guys are staying isn’t very far from the train station, but my train was a bit late, and I’m rushing to meet them.

I'm nearly there and as I’m checking the map on my phone, I suddenly see Bill waving at me from across the street 

Ohhh, so happy to see you again, my friend!  He immediately hands me a T-shirt with a trident on it!!! Wowww!!! I like it!!! 

Bill leads me to the parking and shows me the Mitsubishi and the ambulance. I’m surprised at how small and cramped the place is (but that makes sense since it’s in the city center and quite an old part of it), but he tells me that most of the vehicles brought by P4U — including Dr.Julia’s Pathfinder — are parked elsewhere.

Next comes meeting Jack – dude, you’re an amazing person, and I’m so happy to meet you  I’m incredibly grateful that you agreed to help with this crazy run 

And honestly, guys, let me tell you all - I still feel bad for poor Jack, who made that long way in the ambulance with its dead suspension. I was a passenger in it for a bit while we were moving around Kyiv. But I can’t even imagine what Jack felt when we were driving down the country roads toward Donbass  Seriously – it’s hard to imagine 

I also greet Cathrin – we already know each other personally, we met in Dnipro during one of her recent trips to the East 

Initially, I thought we’d meet up and shortly after head toward Dnipro.
But things turned out a bit differently.

A meetup was scheduled for all the participants of the run – and honestly, I was happy to say hello to everyone, to meet Annette, Michael, and a few other guys 

Then there was breakfast, and we had to help unload supplies from the vehicles. And we also needed to wait until all the paperwork was sorted for the Pathfinder and the ambulance – we were supposed to take them with us 

Hi everyone!!! 

let's continue 

The idea of getting all the participants together for breakfast was great!!! 
Bill and I finally got a cup of great coffee — and we really needed it  (well, I don’t know about Bill, but my stomach hadn’t had anything besides water all morning )

That’s also where we met the team from the Ukrainian charity that P4U collaborates with — they’re really very young and nice guys  We chatted with them and told them a bit about our efforts and Dniproexpress — I have to admit, they were quite impressed 

We also had a long conversation with Michael (well, we were just sitting nearby, so there was no escape — just kidding , Michael is a very nice and interesting person ), and we spoke a bit with Sonya and a few others too 

In between all the conversations, I managed — hooray!!! — to get train tickets to get from the east to Kyiv!!! Yay!!!
And I also got in touch with Dr.Julia to let her know that everything is going according to plan so far, and that we’ll see her tomorrow 

Everything is going well, but waiting for the food took forever… and we have to make it to Dnipro before 7:00 PM, before the Nova Poshta offfices close — we need to send out Easter gifts for the kids… yeah… 

Finally, we’re moving on — all the other vehicles are parked near the small office of the Ukrainian P4U charity, and we’re moving nearly all the boxes of medical supplies that Cathrin brought with her from the Ford Ranger’s trunk into the ambulance (a few of the boxes will go to Gary, the rest are for Cathrin’s friends). The Pathfinder’s trunk is also full of boxes — looks like some kind of computer equipment — and it needs to be unloaded as well. Bill and Jack are helping unload one of the vans too.

While we’re running back and forth between the vehicles and the office, FINALLY all the paperwork is ready — for the ambulance (huge thanks to Oleg!!! he really helped a lot!!!) and for the Pathfinder too!!!

Oh gods, it honestly feels like we’re constantly doing paperwork — and it just eats up so much time, energy, and nerves… but unfortunately, there’s no way around it… 

We also have the idea that maybe we could try to send all the gifts to the kids from here, in Kyiv 

I check the map, and it seems like there’s Nova Poshta office nearby… but it only seems that way, because as soon as I hit “get directions,” it turns out getting there won’t be that easy… yeah… 

So we decide not to waste time and just stop somewhere along the way — as soon as we spot the Nova Poshta sign 

Time to hit the road — to Dnipro!!!

In reply to VikkiDp :

aw, I FORGOT about the computers!  We almost left with those still in the back of the Pathfinder!

I tell you, there's so much.  It's impossible to capture it all!  I'm loving reading through your posts and beign reminded of all the parts I missed!

Real quick, everyone:

Here's our girl deployed with her new team!  (I really wasn't aware of just how big those drones were, but seeing the propeller blades extend over the driver's side of the bed as far as they do REALLY drives home why our guys needed a proper pickup)

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

Every time I see it, I'm impressed anew at the Raven graphic.  It really is badass.

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to VikkiDp :

aw, I FORGOT about the computers!  We almost left with those still in the back of the Pathfinder!

I tell you, there's so much.  It's impossible to capture it all!  I'm loving reading through your posts and beign reminded of all the parts I missed!

Ohhh, yeah!!! 

We were almost on our way  and it was a good idea we decided to check the trunk 

aaanddd, that's EXACTLY!!! to describe everything that happened is impossible  but we're trying 

Hi everyone!!! 

There's some good news!!!

I picked up the meds yesterday and they're already on their way to Gary 

*quick update - while I was typing this post, I got a notification that Gary already received the package 

The moms and kids fund report 

The next one 

Our good friend Arctic Raven donated last week 

We decided to order Yarik a helmet ( we've actually been thinking about this for a while now) and protective gloves (I'll add a photo below of what his old ones looked like )

So - ordered, paid for, sent  and received!!! 

In reply to VikkiDp :

I can not tell you how glad I am to see him wearing his protective gear 💙💛

WonkoTheSane said:

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

Every time I see it, I'm impressed anew at the Raven graphic.  It really is badass.

Oh, man.  That's a favorite of mine too!!!

Our sticker guy REALLY knocked that one out of the park 🤘🏼

Hey, everyone.  On our recent family visit (just before the run), I had the opportunity to visit someone pretty important to me.  Allow me to introduce "Sir Nicholas Winton ":

(The poor Hungarlings were dragged up and down that platform in the train station to find that monument, and then were asked to hold the camera).  You might remember Sir Winton from this clip:  https://youtu.be/6_nFuJAF5F0?si=ERSAikmxVpTQCM_D

This photo of the train door was dedicated to the parents, who sent their children into the unknown:

(If you travel to Liverpool station in London, there is a second statue.  It's just of the children and their luggage as they wait to meet their new family)

I wanted to share the visit with you, given how much we've given to try to help our kids in Dnipro ❤️

oooh!  Bonus post

I just got off the phone with Gary.  We’re coordinating with a big donor who wants to fund another ambulance for the unit around June or July.  We may not be directly involved, but we’re still working together in case we can be of help.

The reason I wanted to write though is because Gary had another story about the Berk-it bucket (our ambulance) and I wanted to share.

So there they were...   it’s been raining like crazy and all the roads are mud.  He mentioned that most of his vehicles were stuck in various locations but "the bucket" had just made a drive back to Kramatorsk and was still operational when the call came over the radio:

“We need a vehicle!”

“um…  I got the Berk-it Bucket…”

So it was sent!

Now I love this beast, but no way would I have believed Gary if he told me the bucket made it when everyone else got stuck (and luckily, he didn’t). 

The bucket got stuck on its drive to wherever it was going and the guys inside couldn’t get her free.  So instead, they covered the roof with branches (to hide it from drones) and used the bucket as a shelter for the night.  Gary said that the guys ran the engine to keep the 220v in the cabin operational and were able to charge their radios, etc because of those plug adapters we sent.  He says that for the next 10-hours that they were able to keep comms going in the area because the bucket was acting like a relay point while the power was out almost everywhere in the area

At some time during the night, they got the diesel heater going and all in all had a pretty darn pleasant night away from the cold, and the rain, and the mud, and the mosquitos.

Doesn't running the engine defeat the purpose of the branch cover? Wouldn't drones just pick up the IR? Y'all know better than I do, but what am I missing? 

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to VikkiDp :

I can not tell you how glad I am to see him wearing his protective gear 💙💛

Let me tell you all - we got the stuff for him REALLY in time 

the thing is he got back at the front line yesterday's evening  after completing a short advanced drone pilot training 

In reply to VikkiDp :

Stay safe, Yaro!  (And give 'em hell)

brandonsmash said:

Doesn't running the engine defeat the purpose of the branch cover? Wouldn't drones just pick up the IR? Y'all know better than I do, but what am I missing? 

Not all drones have thermal but I think the thing they had going for them is the distance

If they we're still driving then they were behind the secondary contact line.  If they got stuck before that, then there was probably a good gray zone between them and rooskie activity.  Less "close up" drone activity.

But you are correct.  Had a drone with IR been the area, they would have 100% been spotted

Target acquired!!! 

Everyone, we've found a WINNER! 

I put a deposit on it despite us not quite reaching our goals yet, as I did not want this one getting away.

 The chassis is solid (no welding required), the engine is strong, and the transmission shifts smooth.  The seller even had a little place we could test out the 4x4, and of course there was that rear differential lock 🤘🏼

On the down side, it has an immobilizer (an unnecessary extra step to start the truck), a transfer case mount bushing is shot, and the back tires could use replacing.  I used that to our advantage and talked the seller down to 1,850,000 forint (from 2-million.about a $500 savings)

With that, we currently have $4135 sitting in our account. The truck is $5100, and we take delivery on the 31st.  I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't have a bit in savings to back this up.  

so we are DOING it! 🤘🏼 

all that being said, we're going to keep the donation drive going to try to catch that last little bit that we need.  Any extra that's donated buys spares, fluids, tools, tires, etc! (So please share with anyone you think might be interested in helping out!)  💙💛

https://donorbox.org/keep-the-express-running

Cheers, everyone!!!

Very nice! How hard would it be to remove the immobilizer, or is that one of those things that's baked into the ECU?

In reply to brandonsmash :

Honestly, I have no idea.  I'm going to do some googling, but I think this might be one of those occasions where the Ukrainians might have more experience with this than myself.

The second idea I had (and probably a bit simpler) would be to permanently mount the magnet (you have to swipe this magnet looking thing on the left side of the console) to the steering column in an attempt to permanently release the immobilizer.

Definitely something we should chew on before we get the truck.  Let me know if any of you have any experience with such things (or advice)!