Project Slavic Garden

My name is Chris Campanelli, and I am raising funds to help the Ukrainians displaced by the conflict in their country. Over 2 million Ukrainians have fled their country (as of 8-March-2022). Many end up at processing centers along the border of Poland and Ukraine and in refugee camps in larger cities such as Warsaw. The processing centers and refugee camps provide shelter, food, and basic needs for the refugees. They rely heavily on donations. Volunteers work tirelessly at the camps and centers to assist with relocating refugees, but the amount of people coming in far surpasses the amount of people going out. Here is how we are helping.

Our project has 4 objectives:
1.  Deliver donations gathered in The Netherlands to the processing centers and refugee camps. 
2.  Provide the processing centers and refugee camps with their most urgent needs, such as foods, toiletries, bedding, baggage, medical supplies, and other basic needs that we can source close to the centers.
3.  Provide transportation for refugees either to family members or other volunteering host families.
4.  Provide financial assistance to relocated refugees to provide for basic needs, such as clothing, toiletries, food, language lessons in host country, etc. 

The situation at these processing centers is critical. Separated families including mothers, children, widows, orphans, elderly, and disabled Ukrainians are being processed in provisional centers such as elementary school gymnasiums, municipality buildings, and older inadequate facilities that struggle to host so many people. We coordinate with the processing centers and refugee camps to know best what their current needs are. 

We have made a trip on 5-8 March to the border to bring donations, purchase additional supplies locally, and offer transportation to as many people as we could fit in two cars. We were able to relocate two Ukrainian families during our first trip. One family of 2, a Mother Larisa and daughter Anfisa (5yo), had to flee Kyiv while their husband/father stayed behind.  Another family of 4, a Mother Katya, Mother-in-Law Galia, son Sergie (8yo) and daughter Eva (3yo) had to flee Odessa and left behind two cats; their husband/father/son is currently safely working on a ship on the Atlantic Ocean. A generous Dutch family in Nieuw Vennep, Netherlands were able to take in Larisa and Anfisa. Katya, Galia, Sergie, and Eva were able to be reunited with Katya’s brother Timur in Stuttgart, Germany. From our first trip we were able to use approximately €1500 in expedited donations to contribute to the processing centers and relocate these two families. This is a great start, but there is still much more work to do.

I am asking for any and all help, no matter how small, to continue contributing to the Ukrainian crisis. I will personally oversee all donations and direct funds coming in and going out. All donations will contribute to the 4 objectives mentioned above, as well as fuel, tolls, hotel accommodations for volunteers and refugees, and meals. As I communicate with the processing centers and refugee camps to better understand what their current needs are, I will plan the use of the donations accordingly. I will manage all receipts and transactions, keep an updated ledger of donations and expenses by means of an excel spreadsheet and pie charts, and provide records to donors.
 
Please spread the word to anyone and everyone. No donation is too small, and spreading the word is as valuable as donating. The more people that know how dire the situation is for these people fleeing their homes, the better we can help them. We plan to continue this mission until we either run out of resources or we run out of people to help. The War in Ukraine right now is unimaginable for the women and children fleeing their country as their men remain to defend their land. Slava Ukraini!