Bill, i've read your long-long story
i'm so happy and so glad that it was successful!!!
it was incredibly exciting adventure and you did it!!!
you need to write a book - it made me laugh and cry
of course, it was better to get to Ukraine as a tourist
Lviv is my favorite love - like this place so much - i'll tell something interesting about it tomorrow
In reply to tuna55, OHSCrifle, 84fsp, bmw88rider, Stuart in mn, and David S. Wallens:
Thanks guys, this is something I really cant wait to do again. I'm typing up a "lessons learned" for Mrs. Hungary so she'll have a smoother run. She's got a co-driver lined up, but I'm trying to work out a strategy where I can convince her to let me put GRM stickers on her Saab.
californiamilleghia said:Call the BBC office in Hungary , they can tell you what frequency they are broadcasting on and what language ,
not sure if they are still doing Shortwave , but when I was traveling it was on 49 meter band ,
BBC has made many of the broadcasts in Western Europe Internet only , but I am pretty sure they still have "AM-FM" channels too
Radio Netherlands would be another one to check, or Deutche Welle,
You are doing a great job !
Looks like the BBC no longer has an office in Hungary. Unfortunately we're having political issues with free press as of late. I did see there was an office in Poland though, I'll try to reach out to them as well as radio netherlands.
Thanks!
I'm sorry this took me an extra day to post. I was exhausted last night and turned in early after packing myself full of a far greater quantity of rice and beans than was justified. And I fully understand that it is an absolute luxury to be able to do both of those things.
Here are the pics I was able to translate via Google Lens. I cropped the pics and enlarged them to get the billboard text big enough to be readable, so they are pretty grainy.
Vikki, please feel free to correct any mistakes or fill in any gaps in these translations!
In reply to m4ff3w :
That took me so many tries, I'm embarrassed. Even with your excellent instructions AND animation, I still managed to take half an hour to get what I need (to be fair, none of the buttons it showed to download, were actually there...)
But in my defense, I actually googled this before I left, and all I got from the instructions I followed was an icon on my home screen. Thinking the map had been downloaded, I felt content to head out on my journey. It wasn't until the morning of, that I realized that it still required data...
VikkiDp said:Bill, i've read your long-long story
i'm so happy and so glad that it was successful!!!
it was incredibly exciting adventure and you did it!!!
you need to write a book - it made me laugh and cry
of course, it was better to get to Ukraine as a tourist
Lviv is my favorite love - like this place so much - i'll tell something interesting about it tomorrow
We will definitely be visiting again. It was amazingly beautiful, and I would love to go there as a tourist once this is all over.
In reply to DarkMonohue :
Thanks for doing that!
I had google lense on my phone and meant to do the same thing but couldnt figure out how to share with GRM filters 
DarkMonohue said:
Vikki, please feel free to correct any mistakes or fill in any gaps in these translations!
I had to go to my high-res image, and google lense still failed me. I believe it says "We believe in the Army, we are proud of the 24th brigade"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24th_Mechanized_Brigade_(Ukraine)
ooh! I forgot to tell you guys that Carrie also visited the student shelter in Budapest last weekend when she visited Ira!
ok, I need to get organized so here's an Update 
Here's where we're at:
Weekly checkup and delivery of fresh fruit at our local family building today (Mrs. Hungary in attendance)
Monthly donation to Kisgorbo (500,000huf) sent Monday, next scheduled for May25th (thank you to everyone who donated!)
Next Monday, visits to Budapest will resume at the student shelter and with Pastor David Kovacs (for his Budapest shelter visits)
Stuffie and soccer ball delivery service is still stocked and in operation.
Katie's Amazon wishlist is up now and running: https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fhz%2Fwishlist%2Fls%2F306V3ZTF30ZRN%3Fref_%3Dwl_share%26fbclid%3DIwAR0x20kagXNDnZ4shpzr8Gp1sczJuQwi30WINThe_iUzZt4bcvBZA-HApso&h=AT2okhm5c0ewLI6ztgxRjB1U2q7LIfT85UQcATKLfgjabdlNIaziolgxE0bLbPnRbYBoJQxiOJXaXcnrVH0rugsmJ2wrlX7_BpAxc29942ue_HdO-vZ0MGIKi0br5MImdw
Important notes regarding the wishlist:
The wishlist is for medical supplies only, as we discovered art supplies for Ira are FAR cheaper and easier to purchase locally. I do have some cash pulled out and standing by so we can issue an "immediate response" to any needs Ira has, but if you wanted to donate specifically to her, please just let me know and I can add that as well.
and our piece-de-resistance:
We've been given the green light to spread this around the office yesterday. Already we've collected 40,000huf, and received pledges for more. Basically, Mrs. Hungary and I have a gulyas pot that can feed (and I'm not exaggerating here) over 100 people. We're going to hold an event where we fill it to the brim and request that everyone in attendance bring something from the lists of the two organizations above. "We're taking the top off the truck, and filling it with supplies. We won't stop until the back bumper hits the dirt!" (tip the truck challenge?)
You are all invited
Everything will delivered on our next run, currently scheduled for June 18th (I know it seems a long way off, but shipping out here can be awfully slow sometimes). Fingers crossed for a good turnout.
Nice, I've been donating to Razom too since the company matches it.
Looks like a great dinner. I hope that truck is doing the Carolina Squat because it's so loaded down.
Bill thanks again for doing all of this.
So I don't know if I shared But my mom's family is not too far from the Ukrainian border in Poland. Mielec was the family home through the end of the middle ages through the late 1800s since then, A lot of them have spread out but many are still in southern Poland. We have baptismal records starting in the 1600s from there.
This could very easily be Poland. My branch of the family tree ended up in the US because of the Russian occupancy of southern Poland in the late 1800-WW1. They were not wanting to become part of the Russian Army by force.
So I'm happy that people are standing up and supporting the brave Ukrainians families and soldiers that are in the front lines and just knowing that there is the great community out there that banded together. I hope my relatives never need the assistance but glad to know the social safety net is there if they did.
I'm glad to do my small part from far away to support the great efforts on the ground.
HI Bill - awesome to see the road signs from your trip. "Russian Warship Go Berk Yourself" kills me every time.
That was an amazing journey into a war zone sir and we all commend you for being a solid human. Is there a best route around currency conversion loss for another round of donations? We understand this is not ending anytime soon and attention fades with folks. It seems the GRM team has recently elevated this thread so just want to get all of us who are able ready for another round of donations.
Keep that faith and keep up the good work taking care of those in need.
In reply to 84FSP :
I've been doing the suggestion earlier of charging to a card and letting Citi in my case do the conversion. I found that I got 11 more Huf per $ by doing it that way. Of course you do want to make sure that you don't have foreign transaction fees on your cards first but none of mine do because I travel overseas so much I make sure they don't.
Thanks sir - let me check my cards. My work cards are friendly to overseas transactions due to my global travel but unsure on my personal. Good call sir, just want to make sure the max amount of $ get to the place they are needed.
Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:californiamilleghia said:Call the BBC office in Hungary , they can tell you what frequency they are broadcasting on and what language ,
not sure if they are still doing Shortwave , but when I was traveling it was on 49 meter band ,
BBC has made many of the broadcasts in Western Europe Internet only , but I am pretty sure they still have "AM-FM" channels too
Radio Netherlands would be another one to check, or Deutche Welle,
You are doing a great job !
Looks like the BBC no longer has an office in Hungary. Unfortunately we're having political issues with free press as of late. I did see there was an office in Poland though, I'll try to reach out to them as well as radio netherlands.
Thanks!
google "BBC world service in Ukraine" or radioworld.com
seems they restarted shortwave to Ukraine and Russia , as has Austria,
In reply to californiamilleghia :
Yeah, that's the one I tried. If I'm correct we're GMT+3 now (sprung ahead) but even being an hour off, I should have been able to grab something.
I'm going to try again on my next run. Try scanning adjacent frequencies, different locations, that sort of thing.
bmw88rider said:So I don't know if I shared But my mom's family is not too far from the Ukrainian border in Poland. Mielec was the family home through the end of the middle ages through the late 1800s since then, A lot of them have spread out but many are still in southern Poland. We have baptismal records starting in the 1600s from there.
This could very easily be Poland. My branch of the family tree ended up in the US because of the Russian occupancy of southern Poland in the late 1800-WW1. They were not wanting to become part of the Russian Army by force.
So I'm happy that people are standing up and supporting the brave Ukrainians families and soldiers that are in the front lines and just knowing that there is the great community out there that banded together. I hope my relatives never need the assistance but glad to know the social safety net is there if they did.
I'm glad to do my small part from far away to support the great efforts on the ground.
I don't think I'll ever have the words, but I've never been more certain of what we're doing. Thank you, and thank you all for doing it.
84FSP said:HI Bill - awesome to see the road signs from your trip. "Russian Warship Go Berk Yourself" kills me every time.
That was an amazing journey into a war zone sir and we all commend you for being a solid human. Is there a best route around currency conversion loss for another round of donations? We understand this is not ending anytime soon and attention fades with folks. It seems the GRM team has recently elevated this thread so just want to get all of us who are able ready for another round of donations.
Keep that faith and keep up the good work taking care of those in need.
Thanks man! It was definitely an experience, and I hope Mrs. Hungary lets me tag along for the next run.
I see bmw88Rider already answered your conversion question, but you are correct. We're definitely transitioning from "establishment" into "sustainment" and I'll admit to being a little more than just a "little" nervous about how things will go forward. I have faith though, and GRM members are still showing their support. No matter how much or how little we get, we'll still give it all to where it needs to go the best we can.
a few photos from Ira
She's planning big event for kids next week
Those are great photos Vikki. The kids look like they are having a lot of fun.
In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
Bill,
What is the best route to get a private message to you: through the forum, email or FB Messenger?
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
Bill’s email is in a John Welch post on page 1.
Bill, I have been doing a little thinking. Not much, because I'm not very good at it. Kind of wondering, other than fundraising, what solvable problems you are seeing, and how we can help.
You mentioned the fear of your phone battery giving out. Can we send you a power bank? How about an auxiliary power port, wired directly to unswitched hot, so you can charge the phone without the engine running?
Is storage space an obstacle? I know the hitch on the 4Runner is not our standard Class III receiver style, but is there any way to add a hitch mounted cargo carrier?
What else can you make use of to grease the wheels of this operation?
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
Bill,
What is the best route to get a private message to you: through the forum, email or FB Messenger?
Sorry for the late reply. Both will alert me via my phone, but I can get a message out quicker on messenger than I can on e-mail.
In reply to VikkiDp :
That is SO awesome!!!
I'm going to send her a message soon. I have a trip to Budapest planned for next week, and I wanted to know if I should bring anything.
Thanks Vikki!
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