Last Thursday evening, more than two dozen volunteers gathered deep inside one of those huge Xerox warehouses off of Phillips Rd. They were surrounded by packing boxes, wheelchairs, walkers, surgical equipment and shrink-wrapped pallets piled high with medical supplies, and were focused on a singular purpose: to pack backpacks with medical supplies to be shipped to Ukraine.
The backpack-stuffing event was part of continuing efforts by RocMaidan to ship desperately-needed medical supplies to war-torn Ukraine. They all-volunteer organization is constantly on the search for donations of supplies, and funds which they use to purchase supplies, then come together every Thursday evening to organize, stack boxes, pack, shrink-wrap pallets … whatever needs to be done to keep supplying critical supplies to the war-torn country.
On this particular Thursday night, the RocMaidan volunteers had help from the Webster Rotary, which provided several members to help stuff about 50 backpacks with “expendable” supplies, like Tylenol, hand-held respirators, gauze pads and alcohol. The backpacks will be distributed to places like aid stations and ambulance companies, and each will be able to save four lives.
Shipped along with the backpacks will be dozens of other large and small first aid kits, which were purchased with an $8,000 grant secured by Gene Sydor, a member of Webster Rotary and RocMaidan. These kits are designed for more immediate aid, like when a first responder has to crawl into a building to find survivors. It’s packed with materials like tourniquets and respirators, whatever’s needed to stabilize a person and get them out from under the rubble alive. The smaller kits are used to get the patient outside and to an ambulance, where the larger kit can take over.
The hope is to get all of the stuffed backpacks, plus thousands of other boxes of medical supplies, mobility equipment, hospital beds and countless other items, shipped out within a few weeks. Basically, a truck carrying a shipping container will back up to the warehouse, a dock crew comes in and they just jam in as much as they can, filling every nook and cranny.
This will be the 23rd ocean-going container RocMaidan has sent to Ukraine, each one costing them $8,900. And THAT’S why RocMaidan needs so much support from our community.
Check out the RocMaidan website to see how you can help, and if you like a good party, keep reading below for information about the organization’s 10th anniversary gala.
RocMaidan is Rochester based, all-volunteer organization founded in 2014 following the Russian invasion of Donbas and the annexation of Crimea. Over the last decade, RocMaidan has:
- collected enough supplies to ship 22 shipping containers to Ukraine. This includes medical tactical backpacks, medical beds, wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, X-ray machines, and other humanitarian aid amounting to 320+ tons to date. They also provided drinking water after the flooding caused by the bombing of Kakhovka Dam, and generators when energy infrastructure was first targeted.
- sent or helped purchase thirteen ambulance cars and six field vehicles to evacuate the wounded.
- organized or participated in many events with the specific goal of raising funds to support our mission. These fundraisers have resulted in over $1.3 million raised.
None of these achievements could have been accomplished without generous community donations of money and supplies. Continuing support is critical for RocMaidan to keep fulfilling its mission to help the people of Ukraine. Their next big fundraiser is the 10th Anniversary Fundraising Gala on Saturday Nov. 16 at Harro East Ballroom.
The gala will feature News 8’s Adam Chodak as master of ceremonies; a keynote speech by Serhii Plokhii, professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University; violin music by Oleg Krysa and Irina Lupines; a performance by American songwriter Bria Blessing, who appeared on the Ukrainian version of “The Voice”; and a traditional dance performance by Rochester’s own Ukrainian dance ensemble, Kalyna. Guests will enjoy a cocktail reception, plated meal, and open bar.
Tickets are now on sale for $175, and business sponsorships are available beginning at $1,000. Click here to find out more about them. If you can’t make it to the gala but would like to make a donation, click here.
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(posted 10/2/2024)
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