Collections

In 2024, I started fundraising campaigns. The war continues, coverage of the war is waning, even though additional support is needed right now. The volunteers supporting units of the military can barely handle the requests for equipment, and with the dwindling attention to the war in the news, unfortunately, support for the country is also dwindling. All the more reason to step up.

Army sleeping bags

In the fall of 2024, we were able to purchase a large batch of army sleeping bags in France. A total of 400 of them, suitable for temperatures down to -30 degrees Celsius. Such sleeping bags are indispensable for soldiers sleeping outside in the trenches.

On page Sleeping Bags you can read all about this fundraiser.

Heat Pads

Winters zijn koud in Oekraïne. En dan zijn warmtepads (chemische verwarmers) een uitkomst. Er zijn warmtepads beschikbaar voor handen, voeten en lichaam. De pads zijn luchtdicht verpakt en zodra je ze uit de verpakking haalt en ze in aanraking komen met zuurstof warmen ze zich op en blijven ze 6-8 uur warm.

Toen de legerslaapzakken op waren en we zagen dat er door units kleine hoeveelheden warmtepads werden aangeschaft besloten we een grote partij warmtepads te kopen en daarvoor een inzamelingsactie te starten. Het inkopen van een grotere partij levert prijsvoordeel op en bovendien kunnen ze lokaal (in Oekraïne zelf) worden aangeschaft, dat is beter voor de lokale economie.

Alex Bond en ik hebben dat samen opgestart.

Op pagina Chemische verwarmers lees je meer over deze inzamelingsactie.

Car tires

There is a serious shortage of tires, especially affordable tires, such as used tires, after a few years of war. And there is no time and opportunity to shop far outside one's own region for tires so purchases are often made online. But with scarcity also comes unwanted effects: used car tires are offered for sale online with fake photos In the photos the tires look fine, but upon receipt the tires turn out to be so bad that they are unusable.

The volunteers in Cherson approached me for help. And after asking around in my network, the solution turned out to be not so simple. I decided to set up an ongoing collection campaign for tires. And now the approach is proving effective: I have found a reliable intermediary who knows how to track and purchase the needed tires in a short time. I can pre-finance the tires and start the collection campaign. The tires can usually be delivered within a few days to a week to the volunteers in Cherson or directly to the unit that requested them.

On page Tires you can read more about this ongoing fundraiser.