Holly Winter Huppert

 

WHAT DO THE UKRAINIAN REFUGEES NEED? HOW CAN I HELP?

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DONATIONS ACCEPTED July 25 – July 31

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As many of you know, I have spent the past three weeks volunteering for the Szafa Dobra (Free Shop) in Krakow, Poland. This shop directly supports Ukrainian refugees who are fleeing war.

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These refugees had to leave everything behind. Their houses. Their belongings. Their communities. Their schools. Their doctors. And in most cases, their husbands and fathers.

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The stresses of so many people having to move “abroad” is staggering to watch. (I know one little boy who has lost his complete vision twice from the stress of coming here. His vision has returned, but there is permanent damage.)

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Many of these refugees are well educated people who are trying to find a safe place to land with their children.

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The children? They need shoes. They need underwear. They need socks.

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Women are suddenly single mothers in a foreign land.

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I volunteer for an organization called A Drop in the Ocean (Drapen I Havet) that works with other organizations to give out 15,000 articles of clothing, shoes and other supplies at our Free Shop called Szafa Dobra every week.

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Volunteers, like me, have arrived from around the world to support this mission. There are also volunteers from Poland and volunteers from the Ukraine who keep this shop running.

We all care deeply about helping.

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HOW DOES THIS WORK?

If you donate money, it goes to my account. I go shopping. I carry the purchases to the Free Store. I sort them. I put them onto the staging area, ready to be restocked when that size is needed.

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Your money will not go to Drop in the Ocean (Drapen I Havet) to help pay for lights or salaries or keys to the city gate. (Although you might decide to do that too one day. I love the mission of this NGO and the way they show up for people in need.)

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I’ll take photos and videos and show you the receipts. (You’ll get good at converting Polish PLN or Zloty to dollars.)

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HOW MUCH SHOULD I DONATE?
My goal is to raise at least $2,000. That’s enough money for us to give out shoes to the refugees who need it for one entire day. I can’t tell you how difficult it is to see people who stand on a line at our shop for an hour or two to get at $20 pair of shoes.

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(We check passports. We register people. We write down shoe sizes. Each person gets time to try on as many shoes until he/she/they find the right pair. It takes a long time to do this right. We do this right.)

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It’s tough to say who needs supplies the most. The mothers? Yes. The children? Yes. The grandfathers? Yes. The need is great.

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We only open the shoe department when we have donations.

We can only give out bras and underwear when we have them in stock.

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Currently we do not have any donations for shoes this week for Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

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If we get more money than the first $2000, we could buy socks, underwear and bras.

EVERY REFUGEE CAN GET…

• one new pair of shoes – when we have them

• five pair of new underwear (if we have their size)

• two new bras (If we have their size.)

• new socks (if we have them)

• And as much used clothing as they need.

 

THE COSTS TO BUY NEW ITEMS:

• One pair of sturdy athletic shoes/sneakers: $20 each

• One sturdy bra: $15 each

• Underwear for women, children and men: $15 each.

• A pack of socks: $5 each

 

READY TO DONATE?

• Click the DONATE button. If you click the donate button, you will get an email receipt

• Or: You can send your donation right to my pay pal account: It’s paypal.me/hollyhuppert1 (Your receipt will come from my publishing company, Winuply Press.)

• If you’d prefer to wire the money directly to my account, send me a message through my website CONNECT | Holly Winter Huppert and I’ll send you that information.

 

HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR DONATING? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS:

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Any donation amount:

• A thank you post on social media

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$100 Donation

• A thank you post on social media

• I’ll send you a postcard from Krakow (Please be sure I have your address.)

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$1000 Donation

• A thank you post on social media

• I’ll make you a 30 second or longer personal thank you video from the Free Shop that supports Ukrainian refugees fleeing war. ( *on a day when there are no refugees present.)

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$10,000 Donation

• A thank you post on social media

• I’ll make you a personal video—up to five minutes—of me showing you around the Free Shop that supports Ukrainian refugees fleeing war. ( *on a day when there are no refugees present.)

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$1,000,000 Donation

• A thank you post on social media

• I’ll take you to dinner in Krakow, Poland. (You fly here on your dime. You stay here on your dime.)

• I’ll take you on a tour of all the secret spots I’ve found in Krakow. (I hope you like old churches.)

• I’ll take you on a tour of the Free Shop where your donation will support Ukrainian refugees fleeing war. ( *on a day when there are refugees present, or on a day when there are no refugees present: you choose.)

• I will get a temporary tattoo on my left shoulder of your initials. (Please be sure I have your correct initials. I’d hate to get this wrong.)

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I HOPE YOU DON’T MIND ME MENTIONING THIS:
Thank you for reading this. It’s not fun to educate ourselves on the suffering of others.

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I know. I know. There are many people who are in need in our world. We can’t help them all.

 

We can’t meet all of their needs.

But. We might be able to give one person one pair of shoes for $20. That gift may not fix all of the needs, but one grandma last week cried a long time and thanked us again and again for giving her good shoes. In her haste, she left her apartment in her slippers.

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Now she has shoes.

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So we may not have solved the entire crisis, but one grandma has shoes. So do hundreds of other people in just the last week because a volunteer did a fund raising drive.

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That’s a darn good place to start.  

Do you want to help, but cannot spend money right now?

I understand. I had a little extra money when I got some back pay at work. That’s how I’ve been able to stay in Poland this long.

 

How to help for free: You Could:

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• Share this post on your social media.

• Like a post

• Comment on posts about people donating—which makes the post more visible to other people.

• Mention this to friends who are interested in the helping the Ukrainian people get needed supplies.

• Light a candle, or say a prayer or double cross your fingers that the war ends and the Ukrainian people can go home.

 

WHAT’S IT LIKE THERE?

As you may know, I’ve been writing about my time here volunteering at the Free Shop in Krakow, Poland. If you want to catch up with what’s going on here, check out my blogs at www.hollywinter.com/travel.

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If you have any questions, please reach out.

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Thanks for being here.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for caring. Thanks for the support.

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Holly Winter Huppert