How our friends can help ...

#standwithukraine #howyoucanhelp

March 6, 2022

Dear Friends and Partners

I want to bring you up to date on the Ukrainian crisis from the Lynka perspective.?As you may know, we are located about 200 km (150 miles) from the Ukrainian border. When my family was on the Krakow main square yesterday, everywhere we turned, we heard Ukrainian language – coming from the young mothers and their children.?There were barely any Ukrainian men – they are defending their homeland.

First and foremost, may all of us pray for the Ukrainian people who are suffering so much, and fighting so courageously to protect their fatherland. I know enough about history to understand that Poland has experienced similar invasions, tragedies, and fears in their own not-too-distant past.?

The outpouring of support and financial aid by the Polish people is inspiring.?As someone who watches the international news and in touch with people everywhere, I can see that the world is deeply moved by the Pole’s generosity. A few days ago, a French minister at the Polish-Ukrainian border asked, “where are all the refugee camps?”?His host responded, “we don’t have ‘camps’ yet, the Polish people have welcomed the refugees into our homes.”?It’s amazing and true.

The scene at the border is emotional.?After clearing immigration, a young mother dragging a heavy suitcase and holding her 5- and 7-year-old children’s hands, crosses the threshold – surprisingly alone and not in a huge crowd.?The two young Polish volunteers, draped in the Ukrainian flag, calmly wait for the young family.?When they arrive, one volunteer hugs the mother, and the other gets on her knees to hug the children and give them a snack.?They are holding a sign that says in Ukrainian, “Welcome to Poland.?You are safe here.”??This doesn’t feel like your typical refugee crisis.

During the last week, many of Lynka’s friends, clients and suppliers have been asking how they can help. ?Below this letter, I am providing a summary of different ways you can help. Within one week after the invasion, Poland is already the destination for 700,000 Ukrainian refugees and that number may rise to five million in the very near future, we have decided to focus our efforts on supporting the refugees here in Poland.

One center that we have adopted immediately is the newly created: “Residence for Ukrainian Refugees in Grabie” or in Polish: Dom pobytowy dla uchodzców z Ukrainy w miejscowo?ci Grabie 235

This is east of Krakow – exactly the spot where Pope Francis came for International Youth Day in 2016.?The above residence just opened and I am proud that Lynka was already able to contribute brand new equipment to help the new residents feel like home.?There will be 300 Ukrainians – many from the Lviv area – mostly mothers and young children living there until they are able to safely return home to their husbands, fathers and sons who are still in Ukraine.?Your contributions will support our own donations of new clothing for the mothers and children, plus food and other supplies.

After two years of the pandemic, we were all looking forward to life ‘returning to normal’.?Now it appears that 2022 will be another challenging year – particular for our Ukrainian friends and family – but for border countries like Poland too. ?I am confident that we will make it through this calamity intact, as long as we all pull together.

If you have any questions, or want to share your own ideas, please write to us at ?[email protected].

Keep the Faith … more than ever.

John Lynch

* * * You can help even more by forwarding this to your friends. * * *

*** To our friends in USA: we are coordinating our charitable activities with our American parent company, Vantage Apparel. If you are US-based in the promotional productions industry, we'll be providing more details on how you can help too. ***

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? HOW FRIENDS CAN HELP UKRAINE

?==> You can make financial donations to the following charitable organizations:

1. Polish Humanitarian Action ?https://www.pah.org.pl/en/
2. Polish Red Cross (Together for Ukraine)?https://razemdlaukrainy.pl/en/
3. Polish Medical Missions ?https://pmm.org.pl/en/ukraine-urgent-medical-aid
4. Unicef https://help.unicef.org/ukraine-emergency

We have vetted each of these, and they are all professional, legitimate charities and your donations will most certainly go to help the Ukrainian people.

?==> The Bank account number for the Residence for Ukrainian Refugees in Grabie is:

? Fundacja SRM-Jedno?? PMNSM, Grabie 55 W?grzce Wielkie, Bank Spó?dzielczy w Wieliczce, o/Niepo?omice. Acct # 33 86190006 0060 0600 2903 0001

==>??To our Apparel Brand partners, we are monitoring the charities and border crossings regarding what types of (new) clothing they might need.?One of our old friends & partners – RESULT Clothing – already donated reflective vests which Lynka printed ‘Volunteer’ and “Interpreter’ and donated to volunteers.?We are told this was hugely helpful at the border where there are 1000s of people.

==>??In a smaller but meaningful way, you can also purchase one of our many T-shirts that supports Ukraine’s struggle.?Wearing it will send a message to the world, and profits from the sale will go to Ukrainian refugees and charities.?If you are in the USA, our very good friends Rick and Pam at Mirror Image in Rhode Island have created: https://doinggoodmerch.com/

In Europe, my son Jake is re-purposing his facemask website i-masky.com to support the Ukrainian people. 100% of the profits from T-shirt sales will go to charity. Will be ready by Tuesday March 8th ?? https://www.i-masky.com/

We will keep you updated on our Lynka Facebook and Linkedin pages as well as on our website:? https://lynka.eu/CSR????

?Thank You!?Дякую! Dziekuje! Gracias! Merci! Vielen Dank!

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