Ukraine Refugee Assistance

Alrighty guys, I'm going to duck out of cell service for the next 4-days or so.  I'm planning many beers in the woods and hope that neither cell nor data reception will find me.  We've got some good stuff in locally, so I thought I'd share a photo real quick:



About half of that is for little Milana, and half is for the prenatal center (you've seen the video), and we have more reported on the way!

Anyhoo, if you need me I'll be by the camp fire

Cheers, guys!

Nice dude! I'll hear from you in a few.

Collected more stuffies and headphones this week; we're getting a lot of off-brand squishmellows, so they should be a hit.

Vikki should I look for anything in particular or do you want to focus on things like formula and the desk lights?

I was looking at desk lights, too. Should we just send money for those to make sure the power outlet and voltage are correct? Should we stick with battery power and let you worry about chargers?

Dnipro was shelled again a few hours ago. Apparently a relatively new residential high-rise was hit, as was the building of the SBU (security service). The SBU building has been hit twice before and the SBU vacated the building some time ago.

Reports I'm reading say five injured, no fatalities yet. VikkiDp is safe.

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

ooh!  also, we have local donations coming in!

 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y04FxZYyg54

 

this is the cutest thing i've seen in a while 

We have boxes!!!! (again)

Beautiful!!! Thanks Matthew 

Clutch time...  

Again 

Once out on the backroad and free of traffic, I stomped on the pedal for all it's worth and was met with a nice (confidence inspiring) brake pedal.  The truck decelerated fast enough to embed my teeth in the steering wheel (Not joking, the brakes on these darn things are really good).  but I STILL didn't lock the fronts though...

Great work you did  that's awesome!!!

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

I'll be by the camp fire

Sounds excellent!!! Have a good time!!!

GIRTHQUAKE said:

Nice dude! I'll hear from you in a few.

Collected more stuffies and headphones this week; we're getting a lot of off-brand squishmellows, so they should be a hit.

Vikki should I look for anything in particular or do you want to focus on things like formula and the desk lights?

if i remember correctly, we have one last chance to delivery the boxes from the US to Bill  and they probably won't arrive for this run.

So i think it could be some stuff for Ira's school in Budapest, stuffies or something as Xmas gifts for kiddos for the next December run.

I can buy baby formula locally. I think there's no sense in taking up room in the boxes 

Thank you!!!

In reply to matthewmcl :

as i know the power outlet and voltage are different between the US and Europe 

So i suppose that it's better to ask moms what type of desk lamps would be suitable for their kids 

i'll do it and then we'll find a solution for it 

Thank you!!!

In reply to DarkMonohue :

Thank you Aaron 

Unfortunately there are already nine injured people.

This attack was unexpected - i was taking a nap after work and i was woken up by the sound of an explosion - it was 20.31 and there were no sirens, the second explosion and the sirens go off.

The thing is this type of missiles flies so fast that the air defense has no time to react.

all the russians can do is launch missiles or drones at the city 

These two damaged building are on the way to my work place.

The SBU building has been hit twice before

When i walked by the day after the second attack - it was awful. On both sides of the street on the sidewalks were broken glass from windows, tree branches - people were still cleaning up the aftermath of the hit.

I was walking on broken glass, looking around and only one question in my mind: Howww? how can this be happening?

Walking past a kid's toy store and see a man covers the broken windows with wooden shields and a sign on the door says - store is open, welcome.

Howww??? it seems like the world has gone crazy.

VikkiDp said:

GIRTHQUAKE said:

Nice dude! I'll hear from you in a few.

Collected more stuffies and headphones this week; we're getting a lot of off-brand squishmellows, so they should be a hit.

Vikki should I look for anything in particular or do you want to focus on things like formula and the desk lights?

if i remember correctly, we have one last chance to delivery the boxes from the US to Bill  and they probably won't arrive for this run.

So i think it could be some stuff for Ira's school in Budapest, stuffies or something as Xmas gifts for kiddos for the next December run.

I can buy baby formula locally. I think there's no sense in taking up room in the boxes 

Thank you!!!

 

Okay! Stuffies are pretty well done then (I think I have another ~20) and I've gotten several more sets of earbuds, then I'll look for toys and school supplies for Ira. School supplies might take a bit- I haven't seen too much other than random art supplies or canvas prints I could cover in a layer of modge podge for someone to paint on again, but that's still an idea.

Any other ideas for children's toys?

Hi everyone!!!

I gathered together all pictures i received since February from the people we helped using Dnipro's fund 

Thanks to everyone who made this all possible - the people feel supported 

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

Any other ideas for children's toys?

hmmm.... maybe it could be some educational toys for 1-2 yo or 3-5 yo babies? flashcards with animals/colors, cubes or something like that 

VikkiDp said:

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

Any other ideas for children's toys?

hmmm.... maybe it could be some educational toys for 1-2 yo or 3-5 yo babies? flashcards with animals/colors, cubes or something like that 

I'll look. I remember that I found some kits to make cars from that are like, 3D printed cardboard that I never ended up making that could fit that bill.

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

One more thoughts 

It could be something for drawing - canvas, drawing paper, watercolor, oil paints, brushes or smth like that 

We have a few kids on our list who really love to draw and do it very well 

In reply to VikkiDp :

Walking past a kid's toy store and see a man covers the broken windows with wooden shields and a sign on the door says - store is open, welcome.

Now this little store looks like this - the wooden shields covered with posters that say:

"the russians broke our windows and doors, but we're still working for you"

In reply to VikkiDp :

Okay. I know of two I can grab. Also have things like this that might work? What do you think?

As for Ira, best I've seen this week is literal tons of glue sticks and paperclips, and American standard notebook paper. I'll take any idea you've got.

I'm back!!!!

Unfortunately the world did not pause while I was out of cell range. I'll have some updates shortly, but for now I'm just getting caught back up on everything.

Cheers!

One quick story from when I was away:  It's almost a 5-hour drive to where we stayed, and it was a nice shakedown for the truck's upcoming run.  Of course I was paying close attention to those brakes and looking for anything that might be wrong.

Well...

When I woke up after our first night, I went to get something out of the truck and noticed what looked to be a pretty decent fluid leak coming out of the front passenger hub or brake assembly. 

Not knowing what might be wrong I decided to swipe the thick fluid with my finger and smell it to ID the stuff.  What did my nose detect, you ask?

Well, in the service we'd call it "K9P"

I believe the civilian nomenclature is "dog urine"

I wasn't even mad ;)

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

May your wheels be blessed with dog whiz always.

Did you ever feel the urge to revisit something that had fallen off your radar? That just happened.

I think I mentioned that there is a Ukrainian Catholic church in town. I checked their website on a whim this morning, and it turns out they are holding their annual Ukrainian Day celebration today.

And there's food. I am going to embarrass myself mightily.

GIRTHQUAKE said:

In reply to VikkiDp :

Okay. I know of two I can grab. Also have things like this that might work? What do you think?

Hi!!!

I think such things might be of interest to the little kiddos 

As for Ira, best I've seen this week is literal tons of glue sticks and paperclips, and American standard notebook paper. I'll take any idea you've got.

Mmm... about glue sticks - it makes sense - not sure about tons of these ones  but about 50 children attend school in Budapest, so I think a certain amount of them will come in handy 

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

magnificent view!!! 

I'll have some updates shortly

Waiting for these 

noticed what looked to be a pretty decent fluid leak coming out of the front passenger hub or brake assembly. 

It was very funny  love your stories, man 

In reply to DarkMonohue :

It was GREAT!!! I'm glad you attended this event 

In reply to VikkiDp :

It really was great, and I'm glad I caught the ad before it was too late. Apparently they had a lot of Ukrainian members when the church first got started, and they still try to retain the same traditions and promote the culture even though most of the members now are not ethnic Ukrainians. I'll post some pictures tonight if time allows. 

DarkMonohue said:

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

May your wheels be blessed with dog whiz always.

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