WE HAVE CLOSED THIS FUNDRAISER TO DONATIONS, HAVING EXCEEDED OUR GOAL THANKS TO YOUR GENEROSITY! JUST AFTER WE REACHED OUR GOAL, TO BUY VIVI A PLANE TICKET AND GIVE HER A LITTLE CASH CUSHION AT HER NEW DESTINATION, THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED THEY WOULD HELP REFUGEES GET TO CANADA VIA CHARTER FLIGHTS. WE LOOKED INTO THIS AND WERE TOLD YES THAT'S THE NEW POLICY, BUT RIGHT NOW NOBODY KNOWS HOW IT IS GOING TO WORK, WHERE TO SIGN UP, WHEN FLIGHTS MIGHT START, ETC. -- SO WE ARE DRIVING ON WITH OUR PLANS TO BUY A TICKET AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  SHE IS BASICALLY APPROVED TO ENTER CANADA BUT WE ARE WAITING FOR THE PAPERWORK TO PROCESS. THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HELP! WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN WE HAVE "WHEELS UP"!

WOW! THANKS FOR YOUR DONATIONS AND FOR PUTTING US OVER THE TOP OF OUR GOAL!!! VIVI ASKED ME TO THANK EVERYONE SO VERY MUCH FOR HER AND  I SENT (I  THINK/I TRIED) EVERYONE A PERSONAL NOTE ELECTRONICALLY (I AM NOT A ROBOT).  

Vivi (not her real name) was born and grew up in a peaceful, free Ukraine. But the Russian invasion made her a refugee as a young adult. She had to flee her home in Kyiv, leaving everything but the clothes on her back and a backpack. Her father, a retired Ukrainian Army officer, is a scholar who studied and taught at US universities and the US Army War College. He became a leader of the Maidan Revolution, took Vivi to the protests, and became an official in the new government. He remains in Ukraine fighting. When I was in the US Army, her father served side by side with me. Vivi translated for US, Canadian and other NATO troops training in Ukraine. Because of these things, we have little doubt she and her father are on a Russian "hit list." When her street was bombed, she worried that she would be used to blackmail her father if she were captured. I (heavily assisted by a network of veterans and other friends) helped get her to Poland after a hair-raising trip, where a charitable Polish couple temporarily host her. She now has a chance to move to Canada, where a host family and a potential job await her. She wants to help other arriving refugees and keep supporting Ukrainian independence and freedom. BUT SHE NEEDS TO BUY A PLANE TICKET. And she needs some extra funds to get settled in a new land. THERE CURRENTLY ARE ZERO US OR OTHER GOVERNMENT FUNDS AVAILABLE to support Vivi or other refugees, even those who worked with US or Canadian forces. Will you help me fund her escape to safety?