How Volunteers and Donations Built a Humanitarian Aid Funnel From The United States To Ukraine
Jan 05, 2023
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Since the beginning of the Ukrainian war, 13 planes carrying 150 tons of humanitarian aid have been flown from the United States to Ukraine with the assistance of volunteers and donors. A donation funded the first plane from Georgia's former Defense Minister, David Kezerashvili, and since then, plane after plane of aid has been distributed across Ukraine. This is the story of Aksenia Krupenko, a member of the Ukrainian diaspora who founded a humanitarian aid funnel that connects volunteers and philanthropists from around the world.
The Revival Foundation
Aksenia Krupenko, a Ukrainian living in Washington, launched an operation where well-wishers in the United States would help people in war-torn Ukraine. Temuri Yakobashvili and the determined lady co-founded Revival Foundation. It was the organization through which she would solicit donations from the diaspora community.
Well-wishers quickly donated a large number of materials after she reached out, quickly filling her apartment. Krupenko sought warehouse space to house the influx of donations. Fortunately, a well-wisher offered a space in Maryland, which also quickly overflowed. Another volunteer offered a warehouse in the Tri-State area. Several volunteers and businesses helped sort and store the donations.
Then came the difficult task of getting donations to Ukraine. Krupenko discovered that all major freight airlines in the United States would take weeks to prepare an airplane. Worse, each flight would cost her organization approximately $1 million. Because of the delay, the organization would have to seek an innovative solution, and the exorbitant prices were unsustainable when the situation in Ukraine was dire. Shipping by sea was out of the question because it would delay much-needed humanitarian assistance.
The Ukrainian and Georgian Diaspora Communities Partnership
Krupenko resorted to seeking leads for airline firms operating out of Eastern Europe. Her investigation led her to Igor Smelyansky, CEO of Ukrposhta. From the CEO, she learned of a partnership that would assist her course. Windrose, a Ukrainian charter airline, had partnered with Ukrposhta. The collaboration was a viable option for transporting the donations. Ukrposhta would load Ukrainian mail and export goods onto Windrose planes bound for the United States. On their way back, the planes would deliver the donations to Poland.
The setup would allow for the return flight to be discounted. Windrose CEO Volodymyr Kamenchuk offered Krupenko a discount, which reduced the transportation cost to $250,000. It was a golden opportunity for the Revival Foundation to complete its mission of assisting Ukrainians in need.
The agreement ended up being a blessing in disguise. Despite Russia's economic sabotage plans, Ukrposhta was allowed to maintain Ukraine's trade. Ukraine has actively sought large corporations to assist in maintaining the goods supply chain since the beginning of the war, which the new partnerships have helped with. Etsy and eBay are the other renowned corporations that responded quickly, assisting Ukrainian producers to stay in business.
Warsaw and Lublin were Poland's primary airports for humanitarian aid due to the restrictions imposed on Ukraine’s airspace. Ukrposhta would then arrange for transportation into Ukraine after a carrier plane landed. Ukrposhta collaborated with Ukrainian National Railways to transport aid across the country. The Head of the Lviv Railway Station, Roman Senishin, agreed to assist Krupenko in transporting the humanitarian aid. Ukrposhta and Ukrainian National Railways would cover the transport costs between the pick-up and delivery points.
Fundraising for the Transportation of Aid to Ukraine
Raising the $250,000 flight cost for each delivery was a new headache, especially since everything else was going so well. It was now the only cause of delay, and Ukraine's situation was only getting dire. Krupenko was again forced to devise a creative solution to pay for the flights. The dedicated woman sought help from all her contacts but to little avail.
She only found a resourceful contact after contacting Revival Foundation's co-founder and president, Temuri Yakobashvili. Temuri, a former Georgian Deputy Prime Minister and diplomat introduced her to David Kezerashvili, a well-seasoned businessman and former Georgian Defense Minister. Kezerashvili offered to cover the entire cost for the first delivery since no one else was available to collaborate on this. His contribution gave everyone renewed hope that the humanitarian mission could be completed despite its complexities. Krupenko, much to her delight, had managed to coordinate every last detail of the humanitarian mission.
But it didn't stop there. David's contribution demonstrated to other potential donors the possibility of seamlessly completing the challenging humanitarian mission. They came to Krupenko's aid, allowing her to send thirteen more planes.
However, the war has not ended, and she still requires the assistance of well-wishers to assist the Ukrainian suffering due to the Russian invasion. Thanks to everyone who helped her along the way, Aksenio Krupenko will be remembered by current and future generations as a historical figure who devised an improved model for getting humanitarian aid where it is desperately needed. For the exceptional woman, the work is still far from getting done!