“Good morning, we are a family with children in the province of Rome, [sic] we can host a family with children or boys, we would really appreciate being able to help and support a Ukrainian family”. International Citizens Step Up
This generous message from Italy appeared on social media,, “Host A Sister”, as did this message from Poland:
“Dear sisters from Ukraine, my thoughts are
with you right now. I live in Katowice with my fiancé, two daughters (4 and 9
yo) and a dog. My eldest daughter made the decision to give her room to someone
in need. She has a fold-out bed that can easily accommodate two people. Please
feel free to contact me. Stay safe 
”
Online platforms such as as Host A Sister, Ukraine Take Shelter, Host 4 Ukraine, Refuge Booking, and many other platforms are displaying offers from people from around the world to help the estimated 2.8 million internally displaced people inside Ukraine. The UN’s High Commission for Refugees estimates that 12 million people inside Ukraine will need assistance. Concerned international citizens have immediately responded to the plight of Ukrainian refugees and have opened their homes and their hearts to help the many refugees who have been uprooted and displaced by the Russian invasion of that country.
The deluge of generosity and compassion has been overwhelming: When the Irish government set up a website for people to offer accommodation to Ukrainian refugees, so many hosts signed up on the first day that the website crashed.
Harvard Freshman’s Contribution One of the websites that has
been instrumental in this effort is UkraineTakeShelter. Its developer, Avi
Schiffmann, a 19-year-old neurophilosophy student at Harvard, worked
sleeplessly along with his schoolmate, Marco Burnstein, a computer science
student, to erect the site in 3 days. Of the many listings on its
bulletin board are offers that have come from hosts as far away as Israel,
Canada, and the US. “People are offering everything from a couch in their
apartment for one person to an entire farm that can fit five families,”Schiffmann reported. “If you have an extra couch in your home in a
small village in Hungary, you can hop on the website and post a listing and
then refugees can contact you.” A quick search on the website on Monday morning
revealed the likes of a long-term listing offering a three-bedroom home in
downtown Ottawa for a family with children and a room for two people in Poland.
Citizens from countries across the world have rallied in support of the Ukrainian people, affording shelter, donating items, providing transportation, lending psychological support, and sending funds. Due to its proximity, the country that has opened its doors the most to the Ukrainians is Poland, which has become the center of efforts to aid the refugees. Of the 2.8 million people who have fled Ukraine in the weeks since Russia began its invasion, nearly 1.7 million have landed in Poland, many of whom are being assisted not only by the Polish government but by the individual efforts of ordinary Polish citizens. Many other refugees have mostly gone to Moldova, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.
So far, many Western nations are taking measures to admit Ukrainian refugees. In order to expedite their stay, the EU is unprecedentedly invoking a little-known emergency rule that will grant the displaced Ukrainians the right to immediately stay and work in the EU for at least three years. In the U.S., the Biden Administration announced that the approximately 34,000 Ukrainians who arrived in the U.S. before March can apply for a temporary protected status so they can legally work and live there. The U.S. has also indicated that it is open to expanding the number allowed into the U.S. beyond current caps. In a press conference last week, President Joe Biden said that the US is providing "tens of thousands of tons" of humanitarian supplies to Ukraine and that the US should welcome Ukrainian refugees "with open arms."
The European Business Community Pitches InBut it is not just Western governments and normal citizens that are moving to assist the Ukrainians. The European business community has mobilized to assist them also. One businessman in Germany, Thomas Duscha, founder and CEO of a Berlin-based battery swapping startup was visiting relatives in Poland in early March when he realized the urgency of the situation and was driven to act. Duscha began with a post that put out a call to action among the tech community in Berlin. He began a grassroots effort among Berlin’s startup scene, backed by tech companies, to provide supplies, ferry passengers across the border, and find jobs and homes for refugees. Duscha asked followers to donate supplies like baby food, canned goods, diapers, sleeping bags, first aid and menstruation products, medicine, power banks, flashlights, and batteries. The elderly and orphans have received special attention.
The efforts coming out of the German business community have been phenomenal. Many small companies specializing in logistics have provided their expertise to supply and transport the refugees. But the efforts of French and British companies such as La French Tech mission, a coalition of France Digitale, and The Galion Project have launched a crowdfunding effort on Leetchi to raise money for supplies for Ukrainian refugees. The British concern, Commerce4good, a charity founded by the teams of startups Viceroy Group and Popup, has established a network of suppliers and on-the-ground volunteers in Ukraine to provide essential needs quickly.
As the days mount since February 25 and the refugee count increases, the assistance needed by the Ukrainians will continue. There are still at least an estimated 5 million Ukrainians, and as many as12 million Ukrainians, who are expected to flee. Would you like to help? If so, here is a list of additional websites facilitating aid to this crisis.
Americares
The Americares organization is providing medicine, medical supplies, emergency funding and medical professionals to help families in need in Ukraine. It's accepting donations now to help fund the costs.
(Ranked 97.87/100 on Charity Navigator.)
GlobalGiving
Global Giving has started a fundraiser to provide clean water, food and shelter to refugees in Ukraine and surrounding regions where Ukrainian refugees have fled.
(Ranked 96.66/100 on Charity Navigator.)
Hope for Ukraine
Hope for Ukraine is accepting donations to help citizens of Ukraine with basic necessities.
(Ranked 90/100 on Charity Navigator.)
Project Hope
Project Hope is sending medicine, supplies and aid to families in Ukraine. The organization is accepting donations to help deliver those items.
(Ranked 82.09/100 on Charity Navigator.)
Save the Children
The Save the Children organization is delivering essential humanitarian aid across the globe. Donations go toward items like food, blankets and face masks.
(Ranked 91.82/100 on Charity Navigator.)
UNICEF USA
The UNICEF organization is on the ground providing assistance to children in Ukraine. Donations go toward safe water, nutrition, health care, education and protection for those children.
(Ranked 89.18 on Charity Navigator.)
World Help
World Help is providing food, water and other necessities to families in Ukraine. It's accepting donations and notes that $35 pays for one week of food and water for one refugee.www.unsplash.com
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