Together we can Help Ukraine!
This article was created to be published in ACHR News magazine.
I dedicate this to Dmytro Prilipko who turned 40 today.
How you as an HVAC dealer can directly help Ukraine front lines.
By this time, the whole world is aware of the horrible, unprovoked war that is happening in Ukraine.
On February 24th 2022 Putin ordered his army to invade Ukraine, thinking that in a few days he will reach Kiev, Zelensky will flee or will be killed, and people of Ukraine will happily welcome Russian troops on our territory. What happened is already history, a very dark history, and it is still shocking to me till this day. That something like this happened in 2022, maybe in 1522 but not now, this looks like an old history/horror movie.
I was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Before now, most of you have never heard of it, even though it is the second largest city in Ukraine, with a population of 1.5 million people.
Some interesting facts about Ukraine, it is the second largest country in Europe by size, losing only to France with all of her islands, otherwise it is first. Texas is bigger than Ukraine, tells you how massive Texas and America are. There are only six cities in America that are bigger than 1 million people. Kharkiv has a greater population than Philadelphia, where our current company is located. Kharkiv’s Freedom square is the biggest in Europe and one of the largest in the world, losing only to Square in China. Barabashovo flea market is one the largest in Europe. It is so big, it’s like a small city in itself.
So, let’s imagine now that Philadelphia gets bombed daily with tactical bombs that leave holes in the ground that are 50-60ft deep. Let’s imagine that all of old city and Independence Hall gets destroyed. Let’s imagine that 1.5 million people are left without power and kids' school is now inside the subway station. Crazy, right? No, insane. Not to count thousands of civilians dead and more than few million displaced.
So how can you help, and why?
I think you can answer the question why this is not even the question, question is how you can directly affect someone’s life at the front lines.
Why did we get involved?!
Not only because almost half of our staff are from Ukraine and that Philly has the second largest Ukrainian diaspora in America. We got involved because of people like my classmate Dmytro with whom I shared almost all of my childhood memories with or my classmate Ruslan who is the commander of the small trench mortar battalion that protects Ukraine from?the Russian occupiers.
They stayed and decided to defend their country. Dmytro is a successful lawyer, and Ruslan worked in IT. Dmytro organized a volunteer group called “Tech-Stack” and we got involved right away.
So far, we have sent many parcels. Our largest shipment was about 600lbs, containing military gear that we won at the government auction. Did you know that our army puts expiration dates on stuff even like military boots, so we won a few lots of brand-new military boots that just simply expired. Just something to think about.?
Another huge item in need?is combat medical items such as tourniquets, combat gauze, burn shield etc., and it is not cheap. One combat gauze now is almost $50, but it will 100% save a soldier's life.
I am writing this exactly for this reason. There are a lot of foundations that ask for donations. I, personally, am skeptical about many of them. Why would you ask? You have no idea where your funds are going. Do they even reach the destination and what impact are they making?
What we are doing is directly affecting the front lines. Everything that we send gets documented with photo and video evidence, and many times, guys from front lines send thank you videos. One thing to say about the quality of American military gear is that it is of the highest quality, and I mean the highest.
So, I encourage you to get involved. Get in touch with us, look at our website. We have a special page about our efforts in Ukraine. For $50, you can save someone’s life.
Big items that currently needed are winter gear and vehicles. If you have any pick-up trucks that you want to donate, they are in huge demand. Right now, Ukrainians are buying right steering wheel cars from the UK, as there is almost nothing left in Europe.
We will be sending a few of our pickup trucks and are preparing shipment of winter gear, sleeping bags, etc.
Get involved and stand with Ukraine. You can always Venmo your donations to us, our Venmo is simply @Synergy3