By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
ASHLAND – As the Russian war against the people of Ukraine nears its first anniversary, New Hampshire residents and businesses are making a difference in relief efforts for thousands of Ukraine’s youngest and most vulnerable victims.
New Hampshire folks can act by providing financial support at https://commonmanforukraine.org.
The New Hampshire Relief for Victims Committee, headed up by The Common Man owner Alex Ray, raised more than $2.3 million and worked with people in Poland, where more than 1.5 million have fled, to provide “warmth and sustenance” through this winter and into the spring months when a new offensive is expected from Russia.
The local effort here has funded a bloodmobile, more than 700 tons of food, hundreds of generators, more than 10,000 sleeping bags, funding for trauma counseling for more than 400,000 children, and worked through the media to expose the plight of Ukraine.
This Feb. 24 will mark the one-year mark since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his efforts to take over neighboring Ukraine, at a great cost to his own people and those being attacked.
Resistance from the Ukrainian people has amazed the world.
The U.S. estimates Russia has lost more than 200,000 troops to the war which is now focused on taking over the Donbas region, adjacent to Russia in the East with a push this week to fight for the city of Bakhmut.
Russian efforts to the North and West have largely failed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s unrelenting efforts to resist Putin’s aggression have been met with support from the West, including modern tanks that have been approved by U.S., Britain, and Germany and are on their way.
Thoughts of sending jets, like the American F-16s, are further away as officials have resisted requests and it would take a long time to train Ukrainians in their use.
As the war drags on, the people of Ukraine continue to suffer from displacement, lack of power, and access to food and heat, though the winter is slowly thawing.
Ray, who owns a number of restaurants and businesses in New Hampshire, and several members of the New Hampshire Relief for Ukraine Committee went to Poland last May as a sort of reconnaissance mission to identify the needs of refugees.
Ray said he wanted to find them and the best way to make sure that money raised in New Hampshire would go directly to serve those in need of relief.
A member of the Plymouth, N.H. Rotary Club, Ray and Steve Rand, owner of the town’s downtown hardware store, made connections with the Rotary Club of Warsaw, Poland, and have worked with Granite United Way to transfer donations securely.
Also involved in fundraising efforts have been former Gov. John Lynch, WMUR-TV, iHeart Media, Granite United Way, NH Fisher Cats, and the Rotary Clubs of Plymouth NH, and Warsaw Poland District #2331.
Ray himself offered to match up to $1 million in donations and that effort was met in less than six months with 2,500 unique donations. Now nine months in, the effort has collected a total of $1.3 million, not including Ray’s $1 million.
But the fundraising, like the war, is continuing.
Rand said with the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine approaching, he thought it important to draw attention to the tangible efforts New Hampshire is making to support its victims and the hope that represents.
And Ray said contributions are more than providing warmth and sustenance.
“You are saving lives,” Ray said.
Rand said there are things that “regular people can do to help the kids and families who are suffering the horrors and horrible situations that war brings to the innocents.”
New Hampshire is not helpless in this situation to provide help in this war.
“The Common Man for Ukraine is such a story. We can give people a good way to help, by sending money,” he said. It is really that simple.
“This may seem cold and impersonal, but actually it’s the opposite. It is the only effective, quick way to respond to an ever-changing situation,” he said.
“Life-saving products are readily available in Europe. The missing ingredients are generally the currency to purchase them, a delivery system, and confidence that the money will actually help. We have figured out a system to be proud of,” Rand said.
Those visiting https://commonmanforukraine.org can sign up either for a one-time or monthly gift of $25 for a solar lantern; $50 for a sleeping bag; $100 for a 50-pound bag of grain; $250 to buy a wood-burning stove; $500 for a generator and $1,000 gift for a pallet of food for an orphanage.
Information is also available at the Common Man locations headquartered in Ashland and located in Plymouth, Lincoln, Windham, Merrimack, Concord, Claremont, Tilton, Meredith, and Manchester.