United Help Ukraine’s 2016 Summary Letter
United Help Ukraine’s 2015 Summary Letter
Tax Return for 2015. Form 990-EZ.
United Help Ukraine’s 2016 Summary Letter
United Help Ukraine’s 2015 Summary Letter
Tax Return for 2015. Form 990-EZ.
United Help Ukraine’s 2017 Summary Letter
Dear supporters and donors of United Help Ukraine,
With the start of New Year 2018, we write to provide you an update of our major activities in 2017. Thanks to your generosity, 2017 proved to be another productive year. First and foremost, with your support, we helped a considerable number of people and we are grateful to you for helping us raise $84,767 in 2017 toward that important work. This sum brings the amount of funds raised since United Help Ukraine’s establishment in June 2014 to a total of $303,000.
In 2017, UHU focused its efforts on the following four major initiatives: (1) Wounded Warrior Aid, (2) Humanitarian Aid, (3) Medical Aid, and (4) Raising Awareness.
Our Wounded Warrior Aid initiative utilized $37,049 towards:
- Raised $17,000 in funds to buy four cars (cars for wounded Ukrainian warriors Volodymyr Kovalskiy, Anatoliy Horbenko, and Serhiy Khrapko had been already purchased; and a car for Mikhaylo Lupeyko is in the process of being purchased);
- Continued the “VETERAN SPORT” program and spent $9,924 to send four more groups of veterans and their families for rehabilitation to the Carpathian Mountains and the Azov Sea;
- Supported publication of important medical handbooks “Essays on Surgery of Combat Abdomen Trauma” and “Ultrasound Diagnostics of Abdominal Trauma and Its Complications” ($500);
- Supported printing of booklets and photographs made by the war photographer and veteran of Donbas Battalion Yuriy Velychko for the art exhibition “Life on ‘Zero,’” held on July 7-21 in The Kyiv Fortress ($450);
- Covered expenses for heart surgery for Valeriy Vashkevych ($1,000);
- Provided care packages for the Ukrainian US Marine Corps Marathon Team ($529), gifts for the team and their children ($2,050) and the welcoming party for the team ($477) (reflected in the children fund in the Humanitarian Aid initiative below); as well as the transportation for the team in cooperation with the Ukrainian Diaspora of Rochester ($2,850); and
- Supported numerous wounded warriors by providing funds for sports equipment, safety parts for a scooter, apartment heater installation, knee braces, wheelchair accumulator and battery and covering smaller medical expenses.
Our Humanitarian Aid initiative was also very productive, with $33,443 committed to the following important efforts:
- Purchased first aid kit components: 373 QuikClot Haemostatic Gauze, 850 CAT Tourniquets, 172 halo/hyfin chest seals, 283 NAR ARS Decompression Needle, 93 Israeli Bandages, 300 medical scissors and 5 Tasmanian medical backpacks ($13,562);
- Provided a gasoline generator and batteries and accumulators ($805);
- Purchased and shipped: 12 boxes of uniforms, 200 sets of thermal undergarments, 5 pairs of boots ($1,100); 20 pairs of boots ($1,167); 30 sets of uniforms and 10 pairs of boots ($500); 10 boxes of uniforms and thermal undergarments ($1,574); 18 boxes of used uniforms, thermal undergarments, hats and gloves ($1,424); and 12 pairs of uniforms and boots ($989);
- Covered shipping costs of $4,477 for shipping items to Ukraine from all United Help Ukraine’s initiatives; and
- Similar to the last three years, we conducted a successful drive to collect toys and children’s clothes via Amazon.com for Christmas presents to be sent to Ukrainian warriors’ children. We received monetary donations for these toys in the amount of $2,700, and in addition donors purchased toys valued at approximately $6,000 for a total of 124 children in Ukraine (18 children of fallen and wounded Ukrainian heroes from the Mykolaiv region, 18 children of fallen, wounded, and serving Ukrainian heroes from the “Desna” military base, 22 children of fallen or wounded Ukrainian pilots from Brody, 37 children who live in “Kramatorsk Center for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation,” and 29 children from rehabilitation center “Point Zero”(Chernihiv Region) for single mothers and their children).
Our Medical Aid Initiative projects were very effective this year and accounted for $5,052 of the total funds raised. Below are some of UHU’s major accomplishments in this area:
- In 2017 we began working with the Irpin Military Hospital to provide rehabilitative equipment for the hospital’s recently opened department of amputee rehabilitation and provided $4,550 worth of equipment, such as a dynamic step trainer, stomach acidity measuring device, and walking bars.
- UHU covered “extra luggage” costs and supplies ($427) for shipping of at least 10 suitcases of medical supplies with people travelling to Ukraine. Each suitcase contained 50 pounds of medical supplies with monetary value ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 per suitcase. Medical supplies were donated to United Help Ukraine by the Brother’s Brother Foundation.
Our Raising Awareness initiative was extremely busy in 2017. UHU hosted or took part in 28 events, fundraisers, and protests. Please see below a full list of events.
Finally, we want to draw your attention to UHU’s administrative costs and our continued commitment to operating at a minimum administrative costs margin. UHU’s 2017 administrative and organizational fees totaled $2,295, which included: liability insurance ($1,270) we are required to carry to hold public events, such as concerts and fundraisers; website hosting fees; PayPal fees ($305), checks, postage, PO Box annual fee and other miscellaneous items. With the exception of PayPal fees, which we have no control over, all administrative expenses were covered by the UHU membership fees that totaled $2,105. This means that none of the donated funds were used to cover UHU’s operation costs in 2017. We want to say a special thank you to our members and numerous volunteers who donate their time and talents to our organization’s cause. Only because of patriots like you are we able to operate at such a margin and continue to raise funds and awareness to benefit Ukraine and her brave men and women.
We sincerely thank every one of you for trusting our judgment and supporting our initiatives during the past year, as well as prior years. It is only with your generous support that we were able to help so many in need during this difficult time. We continue to work only with trusted volunteers, and they are our direct link to recipients of our humanitarian aid. Our recipients are immensely grateful for your support; they are amazed and deeply touched every time they hear that more aid is coming from so far away. It means so much to all of them to know that people who have never met them and who live at such a great distance truly care about them and about Ukraine, and continuously strive to help them.
As we enter 2018, we will continue all of our initiatives, including providing first aid kits which are still needed at the front lines, supporting the wounded warriors, as their number continues to grow, and helping children who have lost a family member in Russia’s war in Eastern Ukraine. We strongly believe that every single person can make a difference, whether it is by providing financial support, writing a thank you letter to a soldier defending Ukraine, or by spreading a word of truth about Ukraine and the current situation there. We ask and hope for your continued support of our initiatives in the near future.
United Help Ukraine hosted or took part in the following 28 events, fundraisers, and protests in 2017:
Date: Event Title:
- 02/11 Pampered Chef Party and Fundraiser for Ukraine
- 02/19 Vigil to Remember Ukraine’s Heavenly Hundred in Washington DC
- 02/26 Meeting in memory of Boris Nemtsov
- 02/24 Movie Night: Bitter Harvest
- 03/03 Heavenly Hundred Commemoration Charitable Concert
- 03/05 Sorting and packing of clothes and medical supplies
- 03/11 Taras Shevchenko 203 Birthday celebration
- 03/28 Screening of the movie “Women of Maidan”
- 04/1-2 Holy Trinity Ukrainian Easter Bazaar
- 04/05 Shipped 49 boxes of uniforms and other aid
- 04/22 Pianists for Soldiers: Classical Music Concert
- 05/11 Paint Night Fundraiser
- 05/20 Ukrainian Freedom March
- 05/21 UHU Retreat
- 06/17 UMANA conference 2017: “Help Ukrainians help themselves”
- 06/18 Summer Potluck Picnic with Ukrainian Heroes
- 08/20 26th Ukrainian Independence Day
- 08/26 Vyshyvanka Run
- 09/16 Washington Ukrainian Festival at St. Andrew’s Orthodox Church
- 09/22 September Board Meeting
- 10/18 Ukrainian Marathon Team Arrival at Dulles International Airport
- 10/22 Support Ukrainian Wounded Warriors at Marine Corps Marathon
- 10/24 Evening with the Ukrainian marathon team
- 10/28 Insane Inflatable Race
- 11/08 Meetings with Lesya Litvinova and Svyatoslav Vakarchuk
- 11/13 Protest Putin’s soft power in the U.S.A.
- 11/17 DakhaBrakha Preshow Discussion: The Path of the Artist in Times of Conflict
- 11/18 Sorting and packing children’s Christmas gifts