Editor’s note: The situation in Ukraine is actively evolving, as are the needs of citizens in the country and neighbouring regions. We will be keeping this list up to date with the evolving ways you can help in the coming days and weeks.
The world was brought to a standstill as news broke on Feb. 24 2022 that Russia had invaded Ukraine. Ireland released a statement condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine and calling for all military action to cease immediately, as well as for humanitarian aid to be supported as the conflict unfolds.
We have pulled together a list of things you can do to support the people of Ukraine wherever you are.
So far, Irish people have donated millions of euro and businesses and community groups are also stepping up in their droves, organising collection points for donationsand fundraisers.
According to UN data, in 2021 the crisis in Ukraine affected 1.5 million people — half a million of whom are children and minors. Since the Russian invasion in Feb. 2022, the UN’s refugee agency has reported over 1.7 million people have become refugees.
As with any crisis, women, children, marginalised communities, and the poor will be those most affected. Ukrainian parents are already taking heartbreaking measures to protect their children including sending them into school wearing stickers identifying their blood types in case of bombings.
HOW CAN I HELP?
While many of us might feel helpless when confronted with geopolitical machinations of this scale, we’ve rounded up some ways you can help the people of Ukraine right now.
Organisations on the ground and globally are actively supporting people within Ukraine and refugees seeking safety elsewhere with medical and humanitarian aid.
DONATE MONEY
Plan International Ireland
A charity that tackles child poverty and promotes equality for girls, has launched an urgent appeal which will help them scale up relief operations to support kids, particularly girls and young women.
GOAL
Irish humanitarian aid agency is raising funds to support a team currently in the region who are helping refugees and those displaced as a result of the crisis.
The Irish Red Cross
The Irish Red Cross has raised more than €1.25 million in just two days to help Ukrainians.
Funds will help provide vital infrastructure, support health facilities with medicines and equipment, and support families with food and hygiene items.
However, the charity advised Irish people to not send goods to Ukraine, as it would likely put ‘pressure’ on transport systems and airports.
Instead, they are pleading for people to make cash donations which allows for “standardised emergency relief goods” to be sourced locally, it said.
The Ukrainian Embassy of Ireland
The Ukrainian Embassy of Ireland in Dublin is appealing for donations for ‘logistical and medical support for Ukrainian armed forces’.
Sunflower of Peace
is providing Ukrainian soldiers, citizens, and volunteers with first aid and medical backpacks with each backpack saving “up to 10 lives”.
UNICEF Ireland
UNICEF Ireland has launched an urgent emergency fundraising appeal for Ukrainian children. Funds will go directly to supporting basic services including water and sanitation, immunisation and health care, schooling and learning, psychological support, and emergency cash assistance for up to 7.5 million children.
GoFundMe
GoFundMe has launched a centralised hub for verified fundraisers looking to raise money for Ukraine. Fundraisers, which range from large aid organisations to collections for specific families in Ukraine, have all been verified.
Fight for Right
A Ukrainian charity dedicated to helping locals with disabilities, is trying to raise €100,000 to help those with disabilities flee the country.
Depaul Ukraine
A homeless charity which also exists in Ireland, is working with displaced people and refugees. Their need for funding is currently ‘overwhelming’ as they are offering emergency shelter, advice and food to homeless people across Ukraine.
People in Need
is providing humanitarian aid to over 200,000 people on the ground. For those most in need, they provide food packages, emergency shelter, safe access to drinking water, hygiene items, and coal for heating. Donate here.
Ukranian Redcross
is heavily involved in humanitarian work, from aiding refugees to training doctors. Donate here.
International Medical Corps
is on the front lines and prepared to help citizens with emergency health care services, as well as mental health and psychosocial support. The agency is also keeping the pandemic top of mind throughout the crisis by prioritizing COVID-19 awareness and prevention services, to help keep displaced citizens safe from the pandemic. Donate here.
CARE
is responding to the crisis by providing Ukrainians in need with food, hygiene kits, psychosocial support services, access to water, and access to cash. Donate here.
Nova Ukraine
a nonprofit that delivers aid packages to Ukraine with everything from baby food and hygiene products, to clothes and household supplies. Donate here.
UNICEF
is repairing schools damaged by the bombings and providing an emergency response to children affected by the conflict. Donate here.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
has stepped up its operations and is working with governments in neighboring countries “calling on them to keep borders open to those seeking safety and protection.” You can help support the UNHCR’s work supporting refugees by donating here, and take action here to send a tweet urging governments and businesses to support the United Nations’ urgent appeal for $1.7 billion to deliver life-saving humantarian support.
OutRight Action International
is helping to support LGBTQ+ groups and organisations on the ground, setting up shelters and providing safety for citizens. All donations made to OutRight will go directly to the cause. You can donate here.
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
is deploying emergency operations in Ukraine and surrounding countries to provide food assistance to those fleeing the conflict. Donate here.
Save the Children
is working with partners to respond to meet the urgent needs of affected children and their families. It’s ready to provide life-saving assistance, such as food, water, cash transfers, and safe places for children as people flee amid freezing temperatures and brutal conditions, and to scale up operations to ensure children impacted by the crisis have the support they need. Find out more and donate here.
SOS Children’s Villages
has worked in Ukraine since 2003 and is coordinating an emergency response to support families who are living in the conflict areas and those who have been internally displaced. Find out more and donate here.
Mercy Corps
is mobilising a team to the region to assess where help is most needed, and is anticipating providing emergency cash assistance, as well as supporting local organisations that know their community needs best.
Between 2015 and 2017, Mercy Corps provided humanitarian assistance in eastern Ukraine, reaching more than 200,000 people with emergency cash, food, water, and sanitation supplies, small business development grants, restoring war-damaged homes and more. Find out more and donate here.
Medical Teams International
is fundraising to send medical supplies to the region, with all proceeds going towards sending medicines and/or medical supplies. Learn more and donate here.
World Health Organization Foundation
is raising funds for WHO’s Health Emergency Appeal for Ukraine. An estimated $57.5 million must be raised to deliver urgent physical and mental health care to the 18 million people in Ukraine needing urgent humanitarian assistance, and more than 4 million refugees who’ll need protection and assistance in the coming months.
You can donate here, and share the WHO Foundation’s call for donations on your own social media, including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Alight
is a humanitarian nonprofit that has sent teams of emergency response workers to Poland to assist with the burgeoning refugee population by helping to meet all of their material and psychosocial needs. You can donate here.
International Rescue Committee (IRC)
is on the front lines of the world’s conflicts, natural disasters, and other crises, helping people recover from extreme hardship and put their lives back together. The IRC currently has a team dispatched to Poland that’s helping to provide food, medical care, and emergency support services to families who fled Ukraine amid the violence. You can donate here.
Team Rubicon
mobilises their highly skilled volunteers to help people prepare, respond, and recover from disasters and humanitarian crises. As a World Health Organisation Emergency Medical Team mobile unit, Team Rubicon has sent a small team to Poland, including physicians with expertise in paediatrics and maternal and reproductive health care.
Donate here to help Team Rubicon rapidly respond to meet humanitarian needs.
DONATE GOODS
While The Irish Red Cross is urging people to donate money instead of goods, here are some collection points where you can donate supplies across the country.
Dublin: Several shipments of goods will be couriered by Green Speed to Poland and will be handed out to Ukrainian refugees crossing the border into Poland. Dublin drop-off points for donations are in Sandymount and at the Green Speed Head Office in Dublin 12.Organisers are looking for items including sleeping bags, baby wipes, first aid bandages, pet food, batteries and toothbrushes among other items.
Cork: Homeless Help and Support in Cork City are collecting items at their offices on Union Quay this Saturday March 5, between the hours of 10am and 4pm. They are looking for blankets, toiletries, tea coffee sugar, baby food etc.
Galway: Polish shop, Smakoteka in Galway City, is collecting goods including warm clothes for children, towels, blankets and hygiene supplies as well as nappies and baby food. Items need to be sealed in labelled cardboard boxes.
Limerick: A Help for Ukraine campaign will have two more collection days at the Old Cleeve’s Factory in Limerick city, taking place today and tomorrow from 5pm to 7pm each evening.
Volunteers are calling for medical supplies only, which will be transported to the Ukrainian-Polish border and then onto the Medical Battalion Hospitals and other similar units.
TAKE ACTION
Join a Peace Protest
The world must show a united front with Ukrainians against President Putin’s invasion, and demonstrators around the world — from London to Tokyo — have taken to the streets to protest the war. You can also take action with Global Citizen, by taking our pledge to protest here — we’ll then send you an email with what you need to know about how to attend a protest near you, how to set up a protest, and how to show your solidarity as an individual.
Take Action With Global Citizen
Global Citizens all around the world can join in taking action in several key ways, including rallying the international community to help with urgent funding and medical needs; amplifying the calls of Ukrainian civil society organisations; calling on countries to support refugees, and more.
Here’s how:
- The United Nations (UN) has launched an urgent humanitarian appeal for $1.7 billion to deliver life-saving humanitarian support. You can send an urgent tweet in support of the UN’s appeal, urging governments and businesses to support the people of Ukraine. Take action here.
- Medical supplies in Ukraine are falling dangerously low. Global Citizen is partnering with organisations on the ground, Direct Relief and International Medical Corps, to gather urgent medical donations. Help amplify our call by emailing international companies to donate life-saving medical supplies to Ukraine here.
- 40 Ukrainian civil society organisations have come together with six urgent appeals for the world with the Kyiv Declaration, and you can take action to help them get heard. They request safe spaces to be provided for civilians, sanctions on Russian banks, support for local humanitarian responses, freezing the assets and revoking the visas of Putin and his cronies, defensive military assistance, and provision of equipment to track war crimes and ensure that all those responsible are one day brought to justice. Take action here to help amplify their appeal.
- Russia has launched a direct attack on the Zaporizhzhia power station, one of the largest nuclear sites in Europe. This is the first time in history a state has directly attacked a nuclear site. This huge escalation has been called out by the US and Ukraine as a war crime, and directly goes against the Geneva Convention. Nuclear sites must be off-limits during conflict. Targeting them puts civilians and the environment at huge risk and increases the danger of further escalating the conflict. You can take action by sending an urgent tweet condemning the attack and calling for nuclear sites to be off-limits, here.
- You can also join with millions of people around the world to raise your voice against President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine by sending a tweet condemning the war and calling for an immediate ceasefire to save lives. Take action here.
- You can also take action with us to amplify all the different ways the international community — including businesses, corporations, philanthropists, and more — can help those impacted by the war and bring it to an end. Find out more and take action here.
DONATE PROFITS
Businesses across the country in Ireland have been organising fundraisers and doubling up as drop-off centres to collect supplies for those fleeing Ukraine.
As the war in Ukraine continues, the list of businesses cutting ties to Russia grows. It now includes Apple, Nike, Microsoft, Volkswagen, Meta, and Boeing. But you do not need to be an international company to donate profits.
In every town and village, there is an opportunity to make a difference. Here are some ideas that can be replicated wherever you are:
If you’re looking to get involved, we’ve compiled a list of Dublin fundraisers currently on the go, and will add more to the list as we hear about them.
The restaurant Allta donated 100% of their profits to the Ukrainian Embassy in Dublin and Unicef.
Coffee roaster company, Cloud Picker, is raffling off coffee equipment, including a professional machine worth €8000 with funds going directly towards UNICEF.
They have also vowed to help Ukrainian baristas offering to pay for 2 plane tickets from anywhere in Poland to Dublin, employ them in their cafe or roastery and do everything they can to help with arrangements.
Alla’s Patisserie, which is run by a Ukrainian family in Fethard, Tipperary donated all of its profits from last weekend to Ukrainian forces. They collected €11,000 in total.
Rascals Brewing Company in Dublin 8 will be acting as a collection point as they encourage customers in the coming days to donate what they can to the appeal.
Pippa O’Connor launched a sale on her POCO By Pippa website, with all proceeds going to Red Cross Ireland’s Ukraine Crisis Appeal.
Spanish eatery Las Tapas de Lola in Dublin are also donating all of their proceeds made this week to the Red Cross appeal.
BE INFORMED
One of the best ways to help the most vulnerable in Ukraine is by staying on top of what is happening on the ground, and learning more about how citizens are being affected by the conflict. We’ve rounded up a few trustworthy sources you can refer to below.
If you want to fact-check news and information you’re seeing about Ukraine, #UkraineFacts is a great resource; you can also use the fact-checking website of news agency AFP here.
The Kyiv Independent has been a leading voice on the front lines, covering a timeline of ongoing events since the beginning and highlighting those who have been most affected by the violent attack. The English-language outlet is continuously reporting on how the invasion and conflict are impacting citizens, the economy, as well as Ukrainian foreign politics. Keep up to date on its website here, or on the Twitter page here.
The New Voice of Ukraine: Covering news in three different languages — English, Ukrainian, and Russian — the New Voice of Ukraine has not only covered breaking news, but has released informative analyses on the situation that detail how the situation led to this point, and is continuously publishing op-eds by Ukranian scholars and experts that help to give a view of tone of the situation. Read more on its website here.
Ukraine World: While Ukraine World is not posting breaking news and timeline updates on its website, it is very active on its social media accounts. Its independent journalists on the front lines have gathered first-hand footage, and it is using its account to share other informative sources that its followers can refer to in order to keep up to date. Follow Ukraine World here.
Kyiv Post is the only non-independent media outlet on this list, and it is important that those following state-funded outlets are aware that they are affiliated with the state.The outlet has been at the forefront of delivering breaking news directly from government and national offices, releasing statements from ministry officials, military leads, and other dignitaries. You can read more on its website here, or follow it on Twitter here.
CNN Reporter Dale Dan compiled a Twitter list of verified journalists reporting the best information about the invasion, which you can follow here.
HOLD A COMMUNITY FUNDRAISER
Fundraising Ideas
Dress up (or Down)!
Host a Casual Clothes Day, a Jersey Day, a dress up and dive day, dress with a theme or host a Blue and Yellow Day to show your support for the people of Ukraine!
Get Baking
Host a traditional bake sale or coffee morning. Everyone can open a kitchen press and find the ingredients to bake a cake, some cup cakes or hearty brown bread.
Or mix it up and host a Bake Off or a daring game of Cake Roulette! Get yourselves baking and draw one person from a hat to bake the odd cake out and see who can avoid the spoiled slice!
Get Active and Try a Sponsored Challenge!
Take on a sponsored challenge such as a cycle or a community-wide 5k and encourage friends, family members and neighbours to get behind you with sponsorship!
Hit two birds with one stone by holding a good old fashioned rummage sale! Take all those knick-knacks, clothes and any other items cluttering up your home that you’ve been meaning to do something about, head to the market square and get selling.
Host a table quiz and make a night of it with a raffle and spot prizes for best answer, best team name, and overall prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
OR
reach out to your local supermarkets and have a team of volunteers sign-up to pack bags and take donations.
GO WITH GOAL
Three simple steps to fundraise for GOAL. GOAL’s dedicated Fundraising team will be with you along the way to help you set up!
Register your event with GOAL
Plan and promote a fundraising event – a cake sale, a sponsored walk, a coffee morning – the options are pretty endless.
Let GOAL know your plans – they are always happy to help and support. Whether it’s fundraising materials like posters, sponsorship cards and t-shirts or guidance with timelines and budgets, we are on hand to assist you and our event.
Share, share, share! – Promote your event far and wide, on social media, with your friends and family, and share your fundraising page to raise as much funds as possible to help Ukrainian families in need.
JOIN MY COMMUNITY ZOOM
I will be holding a public ZOOM meeting to bring together our community, gather together a database of volunteers, skillsets, offerings and so on, so we can put together a collegial, reciprocal, symbiotic plan of action. If you would like to join the zoom call, simply sign up here and you will receive an invitation.
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