Support for Evacuated Ukrainian Orphans

You may or may not know that Jenna and I are very far along in adopting three orphans from Ukraine, a 16-year-old girl and her 11- and 8-year-old brothers. They've lived with us in Seattle over the summer and again over the winter holidays.

 

After eight months of paperwork, evaluations, approvals and reports in the US, we were only a few weeks away from receiving an invite to go Ukraine and start the local process of becoming a family when Russia invaded Ukraine.

 

Thankfully, our kids and their entire orphanage have been successfully evacuated to Poland. They have all their basic needs like shelter and some food provided by the Ukrainian and Polish governments.

 

 

We are asking for funds to help us pay for some items beyond basic needs for all the kids from the orphanage (18 of them) and their three on-site adult guardians, such as:

 

 

We already have Amazon.pl trucks making deliveries almost every day with items!

 

 

 

We're also ensuring that all the kids get a present on their birthday.

 

We're trying to transform the experience into a "Polish vacation for some orphans" -- not a desperate flight of refugees. We want their most significant problem to be that they have to do homework. The fund also pays for the cheapest flight for Chris to get there, so we have boots on the ground for coordination (he's already been once, and it was beneficial having a rental car for gathering fresh supplies and taking kids to medical care).

 

Note that 100% of the funds raised go into purchasing supplies for all 18 kids from the orphanage and their three on-site adult guardians (or for directly related travel expenses). However, this isn't a tax deductible donation -- it's just us paying for stuff these kids need. If you're seeking a tax-deductible fund, I strongly recommend Angels Haven Outreach. We work closely with them.