Two Years Later: A Message from the Columnist

As I’m writing this sentence, it’s been over 800 days since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Thousands of people have been hurt, traumatized, killed, and injured. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been kidnapped and brought to Russia for “re-education”. Still more Ukrainians have been displaced, some with what’s left of their families, and some alone. 

It may feel like the initial shock of the war has passed and that the war is “dragging on” with no end in sight. Most of the people I know have moved onto the next big news: a different humanitarian crisis, American politics, AP exams, or just the millions of joys and sorrows in our day-to-day lives. And as much as I want to, I can’t blame them. It’s natural to get caught up in your own problems and forget the ongoing suffering thousands of miles away.

But people in Ukraine can’t move on. They can’t look away. It may feel like the war’s slower progress is inevitable, but it isn’t. It doesn’t have to be like this.

When I sat in my U.S. History Class last year, the thing that stuck out to me the most is all of the times we as a county let millions of innocent people suffer unjustly. We knew what was happening to Jewish people in Germany and later in Eastern Europe, and we didn’t stop it. We knew about the Rwandan genocide, but it still occured. We knew that hundreds of thousands of Armenians were being murdered by the Ottoman empire, but we let it happen. When we look back on the war in Ukraine, are we going to say the same thing?

There’s almost an infinite number of ways to help Ukraine right now. I’ve compiled a list of just a few of them below. I dare you to pick one this summer. And if you’ve read my column at least once in the last two years (especially if you were one of my wonderful editors and EICs!), thank you. You’ve given me a way to feel a little less helpless about the genocide occurring in front of our very eyes. The only thing stopping me from being more upbeat in my gratitude is the fact that there’s still so much work to be done.


14 Ways You Can Help Ukrainians

  1. Write to your government officials reminding them to support sending funding, weapons, and aid to Ukraine

  2. Volunteer to teach English to Ukrainian refugees through ENGin | Online Volunteering for Ukraine (enginprogram.org)

  3. Buy Ukrainian-made products on Etsy or other places online

    1. Ukraine Shop Online | We Ukraine | Ukrainian Online Store | Ukraine Charity Merchandise

    2. Support Sellers in Ukraine | Etsy

    3. Category Gadgets of Ukrainian business operating on the international market (spendwithukraine.com)

  4. Watch 20 Days in Mariupol, the Oscar-Winning Documentary about some of the horrors occurring in Mariupol, Ukraine

  5. Keep up with news about what’s happening in Ukraine and share updates on social media. 

Host a drive to donate clothes, food, or supplies to any of the charities below:

  1. NOVA Ukraine (Get Involved – Nova Ukraine), which also accepts volunteers (yes, even virtually)

  2. Sunflower of Peace, a Boston-Based Non-Profit Helping Ukraine | Sunflower of Peace which accepts money or volunteers

  3. The US-Ukraine Foundation and its partner organizations: the US-Ukraine Foundation is a non-governmental organization that both advocates for US policy to help Ukraine and also collects money and supplies to help Ukrainians.

  4. Through The War, a shelter in Kharkiv which takes care of elderly and disabled Ukrainians (Taking Care of Those Who Have No One — lexspects)

  5. Repair Together, a nonprofit that hosts “Repair Raves” where young Ukrainians listen to music while rebuilding damaged houses and historic buildings (Rebuilding Ukraine — lexspects)

  6. The Feldman Ecopark Zoo in Kharkiv which has overcome damage from Russian attacks to launch animal therapy programs for Ukrainian veterans, free food and activities for children, and rehabilitation programs for wild animals and zoo animals in Ukraine. (Animals: Victims of Violence — lexspects)

  7. #KidsCreateUkraine, a nonprofit  that provides free art therapy to Ukrainian children - #KidsCreateUkraine (Going Back To School — lexspects)

  8. BlueCheck Ukraine and its partner organizations: founded by famous actor Liev Schreiber (who voices Kingpin in the Spiderman movies), this nonprofit focuses on identifying and funneling money to the most effective nonprofits working in Ukraine.

Razom for Ukraine, a nonprofit which also accepts volunteers!

by VERONIKA MOROZ

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