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Ukrainian Xoogler from Odessa living in the Bay Area checking in. I stand with Ukraine. We are with you. Wrote this song a week before the war started: https:

Ukrainian Xoogler from Odessa living in the Bay Area checking in. I stand with Ukraine. We are with you. Wrote this song a week before the war started: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdU21AoP https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdU21AoP Now it's time for me to live by these words. Last week, I went to Poland to help my 68 year old mother in law evacuate from Kyiv and cross over the Atlantic to safety. She saw the airport burn from her window. You can read her story here [1]. Today, I'm renewing my Ukrainian passport. Hackernews, I know not everyone here will be comfortable sending money for weapons. But you can donate to direct humanitarian relief efforts here: https://kse.ua/support/donation/ https://kse.ua/support/donation/ The person that helped organize this left his university position in the US to go back to Kyiv days before the war started. He's there now. The war is not abstract to him. To help the army with military supplies (first aid kits, bulletproof vests, etc) — but not weapons — donate here: https://www.comebackalive.in.ua/ https://www.comebackalive.in.ua/ And to support Ukrainian Armed Forces directly, go here: https://bank.gov.ua/en/news/all/natsionalniy-bank-vidkriv-spetsrahunok-dlya-zboru-koshtiv-na-potrebi-armiyi https://bank.gov.ua/en/news/all/natsionalniy-bank-vidkriv-sp... The National Bank has a separate donation drive for humanitarian aid; you can choose here: https://bank.gov.ua/en/ https://bank.gov.ua/en/ Then there's the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders (which, sadly, will be needed more and more in the coming days). And even if you don't have money to spare, I hope you can find a place for yellow and blue for others to see. To us, it's hope. Thank you, and let's stop this war. Together. <3 Odessa — Hayward [1] https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10104889825108244&id=16312882 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1010488982510824...

exdsq 5y ago
Is there any point of making these donations seeing so many billions are being sent by nation states? Is there a bottleneck where the Ukrainian Armed Forces need first aid kits but are unable to get them because of a lack of funds? I've thought about donating to these sorts of organisations but I question the actual efficiencies of doing so. Edit: I also worry that funding the continuation of this war will increase the probabilities of a nuclear war, so I'm unsure from that perspective too.
- tmpz22 5y ago
  Consider relief supplies to Haiti or New Orleans. If you want it on the ground you have to send aid from every possible angle.
- dylan604 5y ago
  Not sure where you are from, but even the "mighty USofA military" could not supply its troops during the scurmishes this century. Many care packages from military parents were shipping things like bullet proof jackets etc. Some military personal were even purchasing armor for their humvees and other gear out of their own pockets. Militaries the world over are their own hell of bureaucracy
  - adventured 5y ago
    You're using temporary stories to stretch to an extrapolation that it was a longer-term context, when it wasn't. The US ramped up its armoring of humvees, built and supplied vast numbers of entirely new highly armored vehicles, and ramped up its supply of vests for soldiers. The US could supply its own troops and did. It wasn't lacking capability or funding to do so. It's borderline silly to try to compare the Ukraine situation with the US situation. They're not similar.
    - romwell 5y ago
      It looks like you are missing the point of it comment you're responding to. They know that the US has all the money and capability to supply the troops. And yet, there were many cases of troops on the ground lacking essential supplies and equipment. It's one of those "it takes 6 months to move a box from one shelf to another in IBM" kind of things. Hence the usefulness of direct and local relief efforts. Hence me linking to those first.
    - zdragnar 5y ago
      I recall helping my friend's parents in 2008 because they were running an annual fundraiser to buy equipment for troops deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. It started when they had to buy bullet proof vests for him for his first deployment (I dont recall the year, probably 2002 or 2004). Now, that isn't to say their situation with Ukraine is the same, but it does demonstrate that even small donations can help in times of need.
throwaway290 5y ago
As a non-military option, donate to UNHCR's Ukraine program. I no longer can do that for now (Russian plastic doesn't work), but I will if this persists when I sort out my banking situation. To support the military: https://supportukraine.cz/en.html https://supportukraine.cz/en.html I would not be comfortable donating to military, but if you are in Europe you could contact your government about military support.

exdsq 5y ago

Is there any point of making these donations seeing so many billions are being sent by nation states? Is there a bottleneck where the Ukrainian Armed Forces need first aid kits but are unable to get them because of a lack of funds? I've thought about donating to these sorts of organisations but I question the actual efficiencies of doing so. Edit: I also worry that funding the continuation of this war will increase the probabilities of a nuclear war, so I'm unsure from that perspective too.

tmpz22 5y ago
Consider relief supplies to Haiti or New Orleans. If you want it on the ground you have to send aid from every possible angle.
dylan604 5y ago
Not sure where you are from, but even the "mighty USofA military" could not supply its troops during the scurmishes this century. Many care packages from military parents were shipping things like bullet proof jackets etc. Some military personal were even purchasing armor for their humvees and other gear out of their own pockets. Militaries the world over are their own hell of bureaucracy
- adventured 5y ago
  You're using temporary stories to stretch to an extrapolation that it was a longer-term context, when it wasn't. The US ramped up its armoring of humvees, built and supplied vast numbers of entirely new highly armored vehicles, and ramped up its supply of vests for soldiers. The US could supply its own troops and did. It wasn't lacking capability or funding to do so. It's borderline silly to try to compare the Ukraine situation with the US situation. They're not similar.
  - romwell 5y ago
    It looks like you are missing the point of it comment you're responding to. They know that the US has all the money and capability to supply the troops. And yet, there were many cases of troops on the ground lacking essential supplies and equipment. It's one of those "it takes 6 months to move a box from one shelf to another in IBM" kind of things. Hence the usefulness of direct and local relief efforts. Hence me linking to those first.
  - zdragnar 5y ago
    I recall helping my friend's parents in 2008 because they were running an annual fundraiser to buy equipment for troops deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. It started when they had to buy bullet proof vests for him for his first deployment (I dont recall the year, probably 2002 or 2004). Now, that isn't to say their situation with Ukraine is the same, but it does demonstrate that even small donations can help in times of need.

throwaway290 5y ago

As a non-military option, donate to UNHCR's Ukraine program. I no longer can do that for now (Russian plastic doesn't work), but I will if this persists when I sort out my banking situation. To support the military: https://supportukraine.cz/en.html https://supportukraine.cz/en.html I would not be comfortable donating to military, but if you are in Europe you could contact your government about military support.