SAFE TRANSPORTATION FOR UKRAINIAN FAMILY

Masha Zabara is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Hello friends.

If you are here, chances are - you know me personally. And in case you’ve come because my loved ones sent you here: my name is Masha; I am a 24-year-old immigrant from Belarus living in Tivoli, New York & running an initiative called Thrift 2 Fight. In this photo, my dad and I are in Ukraine (2016):

Over the last several months, with the help of my close friends and a wonderful organization called SafeBow, I’ve been working hard on getting my father Igor and his wife Khristina out of an occupied town nearby Kyiv and to a much safer border town called Lutsk (a bit of them at the bottom). The photograph below was taken during one of the air raids when Khristina and Igor had to shelter in their tiny basement for several nights.

Now that we have helped them escape, I am hoping you–this beautiful and generous community–may be able to help me protect them further by raising money for a vehicle.

At present, my parents don’t have any means of transport.

This leaves my dad and Khristina unable to attend to daily, life-sustaining errands, like getting food or other supplies, but even more crucially, it means they have no way to flee if (god forbid) the area they are in comes under attack.

My parents are currently staying in a temporary housing arrangement, but given the precarity of the situation in Ukraine, I know there is no way this is guaranteed to continue. Because of the instability of their housing and ongoing violent military attacks, a car would also provide another crucial function: temporary housing if they have nowhere else to go.

But we need to move fast. The vehicle import taxes in Ukraine have been lifted until May 20th. After that date, getting a car will be TWICE as high - for example, a $6,000 vehicle will cost $12,000 or more. These fees will make any vehicle prohibitively expensive and leave my family with no means of transport.

I know that in the face of the horrors of war, this may seem a small gesture, but it could be the measure that saves my family’s life. Any small amount you can give will add up.

Here is a rough breakdown of costs:

$6,000 - small van to fit two adults, one cat (Mozart), and one German Shepherd (De Niro).

$1,100 - transportation, title, and additional fees

$232 - GoFundMe 2.9% fee

Remainder - gas

It is vital to purchase a sufficient amount of gasoline to last them an extended period because of the inconsistency of resources in the country. At any moment, their town can be occupied and cut off from supplies - as their previous village of residence had been.

If we raise more than the intended amount, the rest of the money will pay for housing, medical expenses, and pet care. We are making it day-to-day, always solely dependent on my small income, and this would be a huge help.