Volunteering in Ukraine!

My name is Johnny and I live in Washington State, USA with my wife Traci and our dog George. I am a retired US Navy Master EOD Tech, a retired police detective and a retired certified bomb technician. Since the beginning of the war that Russia started, Traci and I have been drawn to Ukraine and their fight for freedom. We decided since we are able to travel, we have something to contribute and we each have special skills that will greatly help in Ukraine. Traci and I will be funding our transportation, lodging and meals with our own funds. We will not be paid for anything we will be doing in Ukraine. We are volunteering!

This will be my 3rd trip to Ukraine. Our first trip was in Dec 2023 through March 24. Where I taught unexploded ordnance (UXO) safety to approx 185 citizens, UXO safeties and investigation response to police to 90 patrol officers, booby trap and explosive hazards to approximately 90 specially trained personnel. My second trip was from May through July 2025 where I trained approx 20 Marine Drill Instructors on modernized instructing practices for adult learning styles: Audible, Visual and Kinesthetic learners. Of course I returned to Kryvyi Rih where I helped the Iron 100 Volunteers make smoke grenades for the frontline soldiers.

Since our first trip we have joined the volunteer team of The Sunflower F.U.N.D. and we are part of the team going to Ukraine 2026. 

When/Where? We fly to Warsaw on March 12.   

Our schedule will not be publicly announce. It would be dangerous for us as well as our Ukrainian Partners. 

Sunflower FUND has adopted a women’s and children’s shelter near Odesa. Sunflower has purchased a vacant house near our shelter and we will be renovating it so it can be occupied by a woman and her children. 

We have 3 Ukrainian Partners in Kharkiv: 

(1) Maidan Watch which is a war crimes unit we support. They collect evidence for possible trials in the future. 

(2) Vivakot which is a group the listens to the frontlines soldier’s needs and finds the resources to fulfill those needs. The Sunflower FUND has just purchased approximately $30,000 of portable power supplies and was to charge them in the field. We hope to pick them up in Warsaw when we arrive. Otherwise, we will need to drive back to Warsaw and get them when they arrive from Germany.

(3) Evacuation and rescue unit that helps evacuate citizens from areas being attacked or about to get overrun.  Last September, Sunflower purchase two armor vans for this unit as well as approx 10-15 more vehicles. 

Please reach out to us personally and we will gladly share information with you.

See the Need, Find the Solution!

Where are the funds going? All of the donated funds will end up in Ukraine!

We have several vetted friends we want to support. The Sunflower FUND is doing great things with the donations we raise for them and we love volunteering with Sunflower. 

Your donation here will help us support those individuals with their medical needs.  Mental health is an issue and most of Ukraine is aware of it. Many can’t afford seeing a mental health professional. 

This is the first fund raiser we have done. I am definitely going to comply with the rules of GoFund me. I will update this page as often as the information changes. Traci and I will be as transparent as we can be without endangering anyone. We are going into an active war zone and Russia is the greatest social media troll in the world. Some of the info I provide will be sanitized with Russia in mind. We will never purposely hide info for nefarious reasons. I will use my YouTube (@JohnnyLawBMC) and Instagram to provide photos and videos. Traci has IG as well. We are not content creators so our videos and posts will get better as we share more info with you all. It is just the easiest way we know right now, to be transparent with you all. Your donations will make a difference to those in Ukraine.

l

Disclaimer:

We are not helping in the war effort. We are helping people displaced by the war.

We are NOT raising money for the war effort support, which can include funding weapons, any supplies to soldiers, and propaganda. The funds will NOT be paying for travel to the location to support military or propaganda efforts.