Ukrainians still need help. Here’s what they need, how you can lend a hand in NC.
Ukrainians in the Triangle are banding together, finding ways to ensure their loved ones back home are safe and have what they need.
Lyana Klymyuk Watson, a Ukrainian living in Apex, has family actively fleeing violence in their home country. In late February, they moved from Kyiv to take shelter in the Zhitomyr region, in her family’s ancestral village.
Watson is planning for her mother to join her in the states next week, she said. Her sister’s travel visa was denied, and she will soon head back to Ukraine for work. Her grandmother remains in Ukraine, unwilling to leave her home.
Amid Russian shelling, more than 375,000 Ukrainians have spilled over the border into Moldova. And because of relationships established in Moldova over the years, some North Carolinians are helping handle refugees there.
Watson and other Ukrainains in the Triangle have organized donation drives to send materials from North Carolina to those in Ukraine in need.
They’re organizing another one, and Watson shared how Ukrainians, both in the Triangle and overseas, need help.
Ukrainians need donated baby items, medical supplies, more
Two trucks of collected items left Raleigh for overseas shipping a few weeks ago. The community was able to get over 200 boxes (more than 5,000 pounds) of medical supplies and emergency equipment to Ukrainians in need.
Now, the Ukrainian community is asking for baby supplies, along with medical and survival equipment.
The group will be sending these collected items on Sunday, April 10, and volunteers are needed at North Raleigh Church of Christ to help pack and sort items between 2 and 6 p.m., she said.
“It’s extremely important that these are specific items we are asking for,” Watson said. “Not clothing or pet food,” which are popular donations the Ukrainian group gets.
Watson’s husband, Dr. Robert Watson, is a dentist in Apex, and those interested in donating supplies can drop them off at Bass & Watson Family Dental’s office. Bass & Watson Family Dental’s address is 1031 W Williams St. #101 in Apex.
Donors can also drop off supplies at North Raleigh Church of Christ, located at 8701 Falls of Neuse Rd. in Raleigh.
You can leave donated items outside the front door, Watson said.
▪ You can also buy items off of this Amazon wish list and send them to the dentist office: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/6NZO09YSI0XL
▪ If you’d prefer to give money, you can send a Venmo payment to Watson. Message her on Facebook for her Venmo handle, she said. Her Facebook profile can be found at facebook.com/lyana.watson.
Here’s what Ukrainians are asking for now:
Baby items:
Baby formula powder
Baby and Children’s Tylenol, Advil, Motrin
Medical supplies:
North American Rescue 2 Pack Genuine NAR CAT Tourniquet Gen 7 Black
Halo Chest Seal High Performance Occlusive Dressing for Trauma Wounds
QuikClot Advanced Clotting Gauze - 3 x 24 in
CELOX Gauze Roll, 5-Foot by 3-Inch
Halo Chest Seal High Performance Occlusive Dressing for Trauma Wounds
LINE2design Nasal Airway Kit-6 Medical Nasopharyngeal Management Trauma Airways - First Aid Emergency Rescue Latex Free Respiration Tubes with Lubricating Jelly Packets
Burnshield 4” X 4” Burn Dressing, Sterile
Painkillers (Advil, Naproxen)
Omeprazole
Mylanta tablets
Gaviscon
Ointment with antibiotics
Multivitamins
Vaxxen Labs Ammonia Inhalant Pouch
Mucinex Sinus-Max Severe Nasal Congestion Relief Sinus & Allergy Nasal Spray, 0.75 Fl Oz
Theraflu Flu and Sore Throat Hot Liquid Powder for relief from Nasal Congestion, runny nose and Headache
Survival supplies:
LifeStraw Personal Water Filter for Hiking, Camping, Travel, and Emergency Preparedness
Sleeping bags and sleeping pads in dark colors
Tactical gloves
Tactical glasses
Tactical knee pads
Forehead flashlights with red light
Emergency blankets
Thermal underwear for men (size large and up) and women (size medium and up)
Thermos beverage bottles
For more information, visit the Ukrainians in the Carolinas website: ukrainiansinthecarolinas.org.
Here’s how you can help Ukrainians in the Triangle
Aside from donating items to be shipped overseas, Watson said the group has two more requests:
A sponsor to financially support shipping the donated items from North Carolina to Ukraine.
Medical supply companies that are interested in donating many items to be sent to Ukrainians in need.
“Please, if anybody knows of any medical supply companies that might be willing to give us items, get in touch,” Watson said. She can be reached by Facebook.
Beast Philanthropy is the Ukrainians in the Carolinas’ shipping partner for the group’s April 10 donation drive.
“We are super thrilled to have Beast Philanthropy as our shipping partner in this critical supplies’ delivery to the people of Ukraine! Hospitallers will be our Ukrainian partner receiving most of these supplies,” the website says.
This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 7:33 AM.
