Ukraine Refugee Assistance

DarkMonohue said:

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?

 

Oof.  Good question.  Our biggest obstacle right now is just "general life obligations".  Mainly our work and kid schedule.  If that was removed (and provided sufficient funding), Mrs Hungary and I would be running to Dnipro non-stop.

Ok, but realistically: I think I need to source pre-paid ukrainian sim cards for our phones (or similar).  That would give us data when we're over the border, and would alleviate a lot of the issues (I could turn the phone off, and get GPS again when I turned it back on).  Both of us have dual sim phones, so they should integrate with no issues.

I've got the power issue solved (I did wire my cigarette lighter to unswitched hot), but the truck does have the standard euro-ball hitch on it.  Hitch mounted carrier wouldn't be an option with such a thing in place, but a trailer would.  Unfortunately at our funding levels, I dont think we could fill the extra space though.  Man... We've got all the connections one would need at this point.  We can buy food and hospital goods in bulk, workers at both places who dont mind packing box after box for us, and we know exactly where to take them to.  If we had a million bucks, the Hospitallers would be the best fed and equipped unit in the whole country.

If you haven't guessed, I'm a bit of a dreamer when it comes to these things.  The Hospitallers sent out a FB request looking for a transportation van they could borrow (long term) to help them with their activities in Lviv.  That set me off thinking about how cool it would be if we were able to do a "GRM Overlanding Ambulance" build.  Something that could take front line punishment with little to no maintenance needed, get people back to hospitals, and then head back to the front to do it again.  I thought it was something our skill sets would excell at.  The staff could fly out here for the build and deliver it in person, then we could read about the whole thing in the magazine

But first, sim cards.  I think that's our biggest headache.

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

Bill: I'm listening for "I need more money to m ake this happen next time".  Am I hearing that?

I think you can download Google translate  for offline use , 

I believe that Google Translate can also  translate signs or instructions by taking a phone picture of what you need translated , 

I do it  on a lot of stuff that's in Spanish, 

Can Vikki send you a SIM card or 2 ?

So find and ship a non turbo powerstroke 7.3 ambulance through my uncles old connections. Check. One of those things should still be running for the next decade easy. Not quickly but still running. It use to be he would have 2-3 behind the shop at any time but he sold the shop last year. 

Or even better, Since I doubt there would be an issue registering them there 10-15 year old Delicas are dirt cheap if they can do a RHD.

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

But first, sim cards.  I think that's our biggest headache.

Okay.  I am ignorant on sim cards and the regional specificity thereof.  How does one get prepaid Ukrainian sim cards?

Today was payday. I have another two hundred earmarked for whatever you need or want to spend it on.  Is there a deadline or regular schedule you are working with now?  It seems to make sense to send money in large chunks to give proportionately less to PayPal.  Or is that my imagination?

Speaking of which, does it make sense to set up a US-based collection account, and then transfer it to you on a set schedule, rather than the current approach of dozens of individual international transactions and all the individual fees that go along with them?

bmw88rider said:

So find and ship a non turbo powerstroke 7.3 ambulance through my uncles old connections. Check. One of those things should still be running for the next decade easy. Not quickly but still running. It use to be he would have 2-3 behind the shop at any time but he sold the shop last year.

It'd probably be easier to try and find a vehicle on the continent already. I imagine it would cost a bit to ship an oversized vehicle and probably take months.

I'm reaching out to SWMBO's family in Danmark to see if they can find anything. 

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

But first, sim cards.  I think that's our biggest headache.

Okay.  I am ignorant on sim cards and the regional specificity thereof.  How does one get prepaid Ukrainian sim cards?

Doing some reading on this, it seems like Kyivstar is probably the best option for coverage in Ukraine.  It looks like their prepaid cards are really cheap, at least compared to what we are used to in the US.  According to their current pricing, the highest option is only about $10.  I'd be glad to fund that for Bill.  As I dig around on their site using Google Translate, it does seem like Bill may need to actually go to a physical location or have Vikki help him out.

Having a local SIM card is important if you want people to call you back !
otherwise they need to call your foreign number and that can cost a lot.

do most Ukrainians call , or text or use WhatsApp etc

In reply to DarkMonohue and Tuna55 :

Your posts about budgeting make me realize I need to up my game (again) with regards to all that is going on.

Tuna:  As of now, there is no single endeavor that is dead in the water without funds, but there are a couple that I would consider "under funded" at the moment.  Specifically, we're a bit low with regards to our goal for a monthly Kisgorbo transfer and I am sweating bullets for this next fundraiser to get medical supplies into Lviv, but we have plenty of time for both at the moment.

DarkMonohue:  I'm hoping the below helps you better decide what works best for you as well, but I think Paypal's fees are assigned to how much you send and not how often you send it.  I can say that once it's in my account, there are no more fees (which is why I thought there were none at all, back on page 1).  I do have a USAA account that is based in the states, and we do have a unique way that it could avoid fees.  PM me if you're interested and I can get you the details to see if it's something you're interested in.

Everyone:
I'm not a "charity" and as such I feel very weird about specifically requesting donations.  I know, I know... it really is just me and I know you guys are 100% in this, but I cant shake that it makes me feel weird.  Up and to this point in the thread, I've been able to post updates and the response from you has been enough to meet every need (I like that system of operation very much).  I can see now that going forward, people need better information and more stability.  It's something I would appreciate if I were stateside and trying to work my monthly budget. 

With that, I created an extremely simple worksheet that I could post weekly (Does every Monday sound good?). 

Some of our needs are "monthly", some of our needs are "as requested", and some get scheduled when we next visit the big city of Budapest, or when we're able to drive into Ukraine.  I thought if I posted all the info in one spot, people could see the whole picture and decide how much (if any) to send whenever they wanted to send it, and of course it would give them the opportunity to say where they wanted to send it to.  To me it seemed like a good balance between "me not asking for donations", but you seeing "that needs funds or it wont happen".   My question to you would be "does this work for you guys, and if not then how could it be improved"?

Going back to Tuna's post:  If I had to say to an individual "I need more money or this wont happen" right now, then I would say "hold fast and save your funds".  Kisgorbo or the medical supplies to Lviv will meet that criteria within the next month, and it would be nice if we had someone who could hit it with a hammer if needed. 

With all that said (and without further adieu), here's the worksheet I made:

And here is the current amazon wishlist (deadline is May 15th to ORDER, deadline for delivery is June 18th):  Katie Wood on behalf of the Hospitallers

Cheers guys.

In reply to californiamilleghia FooBag:

I hadn't seen Kyiv Star.  Looks good and cheap!  Plus, if I can get it before the next run that would be ideal.  From what I had seen (in my limited searching), it was looking like I'd have to drive into Ukraine and THEN get a sim card.

I did download the Google maps for Lviv though.  I'm going to have Mrs. Hungary do the same.  After that, I'll give google translate a try.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I do believe you have a letter from the Mayor of Kisgorbo:

Dear Bill, dear Grassroots motorsport fans!

You honor us and the refugees with this donation that you've collected again. Above all, we very appreciate your continuous attention and support, as many people and organizations do not have long-term concept and endurance to support such a cause. To be honest, the intention to donate significantly decreased by about 90% in the past few weeks. From our point of view, it is important to understand that nothing has changed regarding the situation in Kisgörbö. As you are aware, the refugees are living here now. They eat, and they sleep here. They are using running water, electricity, internet, and heating. They are searching for job opportunities and planning their future, but they still need constant care and support.

I'd be lying if I said everything went smooth. There has been conflicts due to confinement, and since people here are coming with different background and socialization. There is a long way to go, for everyone. Finding work for them is very difficult, especially legal occupation. Obtaining official refugee status is also challenging, which is essential for legal employment. Logistics and getting the refugees to the workplace are also difficult and requires coordination. We are living in a small village and not in a city center, where the tram comes every five minutes.

Someone already left the shelter in search of a better life to Germany, and someone wants to come back to us, because he felt good and safe in Kisgörbő. That is something! There were others who contacted Kisgörbő School Shelter because of our good and credible reputation. Currently, the number of permanent residents ranges from 25 to 30. We have been taking care of them for almost two months, which is exhausting and requires a patience and endurance. Your donations are always pushes us forward, and gave us back the hope. By the way, I wanted to let you know that our residents are extremely grateful.

Unfortunately, the war did not calm down yet. Between 5-10K refugees are coming to Hungary on daily basis, nearly 650K people arrived since February. Obviously, a lot of people go further to western Europe, but there were many who stayed. Unfortunately, this will continue until the situation in Ukraine changes.

Thank you once again for your kind support from so far away.

Let's keep working!!!

Mayor Gábor KOZMA

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

that letter was exactly what i needed today.  thanks for doing what you do.

Thanks for the letter, Bill.

Please do not feel as though you owe me any specific accounting. I trust you to keep track of this however you choose. I'll send another few dollars this month through the bank as you described in your Email me. I hope it helps.

More headed your way!

That's a great letter Bill. Is the Mayor or you actually a F1 fan? I would be happy to bring a couple of t-shirts from Miami when I come that way.

Mike  

I was chatting about this today with my VP. He was interested and asked for the Paypal address. Let me know if you see an unknown name.

tuna55 said:

Please do not feel as though you owe me any specific accounting.

Absolutely not, sir.  The response I got after posting the list tells me that it was exactly what was needed.  We have a lot of irons in the fire and I think this keeps people informed of where we're doing stuff and how well we're doing it.

With that said, I did miss an important addition to the list so I'm going to post an update (accurate as of this very second):

The money you sent to my account should hit today, and that should have us at our goal for the Kisgorbo shelter sustainment (Thanks everyone!!!!!)

bmw88rider said:

That's a great letter Bill. Is the Mayor or you actually a F1 fan? I would be happy to bring a couple of t-shirts from Miami when I come that way.

Mike  

You know, I don't know that he is but I bet he'd be tickled pink to get a gift from someone on the forum no matter what it was.  Could you imagine someone traveling to a small town like that from the US just to deliver a shirt (I know you're here for work, but still)

Guys, Dnipro is taking fire.

 

Please keep Vikki in your thoughts.

Vikki, I hope you're somewhere safe right now.

I made our weekly delivery of fruit to the local shelter today and thought I'd do a few updates:

I'm nowhere near as creative as Mrs. Hungary is, but lots of apples, oranges, and bananas got dropped off.  I too was told that there were now six families staying at the building but only saw one "family".  I did, however, see a few workers hanging out at the door.  Could be that this group just doesn't have as many kids as the previous groups, but we'll see.

Speaking of kids, there was a new child at the building, approximately 2years old.  She got a stuffie.  One super soft seal was handed out, many smiles followed.

And speaking of fruit, we've been sending our eldest to school with an extra apple (or similar) in his bag as we've learned that while the Ukrainian children are on the school's lunch program (Lunch is a Hungarian's biggest meal of the day, so big/healthy portions), they weren't bringing anything with them to eat during "snack time".  So the eldest keeps a piece of fruit, and when snack time rolls around he kicks it to his classmate.  Good times.

The translator paper that was made, I'm told is no longer needed.  The kids can understand what was written on the sheet now and are communicating in a very basic fashion.  It turns out that the Ukrainian student in the class (Nikola) has a younger brother in 2nd grade.  Apparently his younger brother wasn't doing so well without Nikola around, so the school brought the younger brother up to the 4th grade so they could be together (and we adjusted the fruit delivery accordingly).  I'm not sure if I mentioned it previously, but the school hired three translators to help the Ukrainian children.

At work an article was written about the community's efforts and how those were benefiting the refugees locally.  That's gotten a fair bit of attention, and is now going to be published in the regional newsletter!  This will reach employees all over Europe, so hopefully we'll see some positive results from that.

Looking forward, we have a delivery to Budapest scheduled for Wednesday of next week.  One of our Dutch community members drove in a VAN full of clothing donations from their home country, and we're going to start relaying it in so it can support the Budapest shelter residents (too much at once overwhelms the Pastor that makes the deliveries, and spacing it out gives us an excuse to visit him more often).  This is in addition to a HUGE donation from a Swedish member who was housing 11 people in her summer home (they moved west, looking for work).  Lots to do there, for sure.

I sent Ira a message on whatsapp letting her know when we'll be in the area and told her not to hesitate if she was running low on supplies, or needed anything.  She hasn't responded yet, but will update the chart if a need is sent.

Cheers everyone, and thanks again for all you're doing!

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

that letter was exactly what i needed today.  thanks for doing what you do.

Thanks, man.  It was expected, and I'm seeing it locally, but I was bummed to hear about the sharp decline in support for the shelter.  I'm glad our Mayor is on the up, and still going at it.  I'm even happier that we're still here to help when it seems to be needed most. 

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

Guys, Dnipro is taking fire.

I wish I had more to offer than my thoughts... Please stay safe Vikki.

For those donating, we could not get popmoney to work. The direct transfer required a log on for Bill's banking, but Discover Bank had something called zelle which worked nicely with no fee. 

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

It was expected, and I'm seeing it locally, but I was bummed to hear about the sharp decline in support for the shelter. 

I wonder if that isn't typical of relief efforts.  My knee-jerk reaction is to immediately round up whatever I can spare, which basically means whatever I have been sitting on or saving up for something else, and throw it all at the problem.  That approach doesn't leave anything in reserve for continued support, and that has to be disappointing for those on the recieving end.  Lesson learned. 

You're probably right about PayPal fees being a straight percentage.  Maybe a dry run is in order to verify.

I posted a few things for sale in that forum to get some more cash rolling your way.  Some of them are probably not of interest to this crowd and will likely end up sold elsewhere.  If I can find anything else more of interest to the GRM demographic, I'll add those items to that post.

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

Any word from Vikki?