United We Stand
With Ukraine, For Ukraine - Despite the Detractors
It has been 10 weeks since we last published our regular Substack newsletter, and it is high time that we send you an update!
The last three months have been very difficult for us at Mriya Aid. Our hard working volunteers and the good name of our organization have been targeted by bullies and detractors, including individuals known to the authorities as agents of Russian disinformation. For months now, these individuals and groups have not relented in their work and efforts to undermine Mriya Aid and to divert our attention from our efforts to help Ukraine. They have caused us grief but have not broken us, as they set out to do. Haters gonna hate1 but we’ll keep fighting the good fight!
We stand strong and we stand united - with each other, with our partners, and most importantly, with Ukraine. We have resolve, we have a backbone, we have motivation, and we have wonderfully committed people on our team!
To protect the well-being of our volunteers and our ability to provide aid , we retreated to the supportive spaces of our volunteer circles where we focused 100% of our energy on our aid projects and on partnership development. Here is what we’ve been up to during this period of time away from our usual public presence.
1000 CAT tourniquets delivered to several frontline units - US$ 27K
10 mine detectors for humanitarian demining - US$ 24K
1000 CAT tourniquets to Hosptiallers Medical Battalion - US$ 26K
Drone Program - equipment, operator and pilot training - US$ 600K
Drone detection system - US$ 25K
6 battlefield radios and equipment to complement our drone program - US$ 6K
Delete Mines, Save Lives campaign - Phase 1: Train 6 trainers - US$ 30K
Medical and surgical equipment : sea container #7 arrived in Ukraine US$ 100K and sea container #8 is about to leave Canada US$ 200K
Reaching out to past, current and future partners to share best practices and to continue to plan together for 2023, as the realites on the ground evolve.
Please know that every small donation helps.
The 1M$ of aid we’ve delivered over the last few months might make us doubt the impact of our modest, individual contributions. But the 1M$ is in fact a testament to the great impact that each one of us makes when we work together toward the great goal of Ukrainian Victory over the death, genocide, and suffering that Russia continues to unleash on civilians across Ukraine.
Check out our new fundraising campaign Delete Mines, Save Lives aiming to raise 30K$ to certify 6 Armed Forces of Ukraine personnel as demining trainers by summer, enabling them to train hundreds more in life-saving mine removal.
Let's make Ukraine a safer place for everyone!
We are so very grateful and humbled by our donors and partners who make it possible for us to continue to work with and across frontline units of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. We stay in touch with these units and we learn from them through co-creation and collaborative innovation.
Our equipment, gear and aid is hand delivered to our partners and end users by a network of trusted Mriya Aid volunteers and partnering organizations. A few bad experiences in the early months of the 2022 full-scale invasion have helped us grow and develop practices and processes for optimal quality, delivery, and security. Remaining united and unified helps us avoid pitfalls, act with certainty, and optimize our efforts and resources.
Respect. Partnerships. Perseverance. Unity.
We take our volunteer work very seriously because it is done on behalf of our donors, with the help of our partners, and for the good of the men and women who put their lives at risk everyday to withstand, counter, deter and defeat Russia’s onslaught of aggression against Ukraine.
Mriya Aid’s work is impactful, and it is through your ongoing support that together we can make this difference. Watch this space over the coming weeks as we launch new initiatives in partnership with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Mriya Aid continues to be 100% volunteer-run. To keep costs down, no one in the organization receives a salary or benefits, we do not have offices or other overhead, and we remain a registered Not-for-Profit. On one hand, being a Not-for-Profit means that we cannot provide our donors with tax receipts, but on the other hand, our donors know that 100% of their donations goes to equip and train Ukrainian soldiers, sappers (deminers), and medics on the front. Mriya Aid volunteers contribute their own financial resources to ensure that projects we promise to our beneficiaries get delivered and put into action!
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Visit our friends @MriyaReport for great discussions #Live about #Ukraine. Listen in, come speak. Share your thoughts or ask a question. 24/7 #MriyaReport is there!
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Omar Noory GIF, 2008 ; 3LW lyrics, 2000
