8/24 to 9/18 Recap
VAN PROGRAM UPDATE
The Wednesday-Thursday weekly van to Lviv has been discontinued due to reduced demand from the YOUkraine organization; van missions are now scheduled as needed.
8/24 TO 9/18 FURNATURE PROGRAM
Nathan, VM4U Furnishings Program Manager, and volunteers Jack, Coach Oleksandr, Vladimir, David, Jake, Bohden, Adam, Vasilyy, Pasha, and others, have been moving donated furniture to refugees on almost a daily basis with several deliveries per day. Cliff has raised an almost endless amount of high quality furniture or all types. Through collaboration between VM4U, The Feel Good Store, Domivka, and Osterreich Hilft Ukraine, each piece of furniture could be connected to a refugee family in need. During the deliveries, it became clear that many families have been without doing without beds, tables, chairs, etc. for months and that Nathan and Cliff were delivering much more than just furniture. Nathan has effortlessly managed the enormous logistics of multiple deliveries per day, multiple items per delivery, from multiple sources, to multiple destinations, volunteer and vehicle scheduling, complex vehicle loading and unloading operations, and feats of super human strength for this period.
8/24 TO 9/18 DIMA MEDICAL SUPPORT CASE
Dima and his family moved into a long term accommodation provided by Maximillian on 7 September. Furnishings were raised by Cliff and delivery organized by Nathan, VM4U Furnishings Program Manager. Nicholetta further donated a washing machine. Dima’s health remains tenuous and his regular hospital visits are supported by Oleg, David, Svetlana, Elli, Michael, Dr. Halyna, and Dr. Liliana. Gaps in social insurance coverage are apparent and 100-200 euro/month of VM4U donations are used to cover the cost of vital medications.
8/22 TO 8/26 KOGL ORPHANAGE SUPPLY PROJECT
Svetlana, participated in a 1 week sailing course provided to the Ukrainian children at the Kogl Orphanage (located . Sixteen kids participated – 4 younger and 12 older, – learning to sail two different boats, The Optimist dinghy and the keel boat Yngling, respectively. This was an introduction to sailing, with many hours on the water and basic sailing theory. The instructor did a terrific job adjusting to the three spoken languages, i.e. German, English and Russian. No VM4U donations were used in this activity.
8/24 VAN MISSION
A cargo van team, Adam, transported hospital beds, wheel chairs, and school supplies to Lviv for the YOUkraine organization (http://youkraine.at). Josh, an Operation AID/UAID-Direct volunteer, was transported from Lviv to Krakow. The cargo van was generously provided by First Aid First Hand (http://firstaid-firsthand.de) and fuel+tolls from VM4U donations.
8/25 YURI MEDICAL SUPPORT CASE
Sadly, Yurii succumbed to his medical ailments and passed away. David and Anya have been taking care of Yurii and his wife Lidia since their arrival in Vienna in April. Lidia is staying with David’s mother in Graz during this grieving period. Anya and David have organized for Yurii’s cremation and repatriation to Ukraine. The cremation costs are covered by Anya and VM4U donations.
8/29, 9/6, 9/12 FOOTBALL PROGRAM
Every Monday from 17:30-19:00 at the Donau City Sports Complex, Coach Alexander and Coach Serhii host a training session of nominally 18 boys and girls from ages 5-11. Thanks to the generous sponsors, John, Andreas, Alex, Sharon, Marie, and Rita for supporting weekly football at €55 per session. The football program is a collaboration between VM4U and the Domivka community center (http://domivka.co).
8/31 to 9/1 VAN MISSION
A cargo van team, Adam, transported hospital beds, wheel chairs, and medical supplies for the YOUkraine organization (http://youkraine.at) and Oleg’s Insulin to Lviv. In addition, the YOUkraine group included 3 boxes pet food in the shipment which was delivered to Yuri who manages a make shift animal shelter in Lviv. The cargo van was generously provided by First Aid First Hand (http://firstaid-firsthand.de) and fuel+tolls from VM4U donations.
9/5 REFUGEE WELFARE SUPPORT CASE
A football protégée was identified through the Football Program. VM4U contacted Carlos from SUSA. Coach Oleksandr organized a tryout for the player with the SUSA U10 team. The player was offered a position on the SUSA team and the opportunity to train with the team anytime.
9/7 TO 9/8 VAN MISSION – ZHURAVNO ORPHANAGE SUPPLY PROJECT
A cargo van team, Adam, transported radiators, food, covid tests, toys, clothes, towels, sheets, garden, and a merry-go-round for the YOUkraine organization (youkraine.at) to the Zhuravno Orphanage. The orphanage was evacuated from Zaporizhzhia in March to Zhuravno, 1.5 hours south of Lviv with more orphans still needing evacuation. Afterward, Adam, VM4U Executive Director, performed a video recorded interview with the orphanage director, Olha, a video recorded tour of the facility, and needs assessment, which is in the process of being posted on the VM4U website, http://www.vm4u.org/zhuravno-orphanage-project/. Sarah, VM4U Project Manager, will be overseeing the Zhuravno Orphanage Supply Project. VM4U is currently recruiting sponsors for this project and had an initial meeting with a representative of a potential patron organization, Barbara, ‘The Villages’ retirement community in Florida, USA on 9 September.
9/9 REFUGEE WELFARE SUPPORT CASE
Thanks to the donation of a keyboard by Miriam, three small kids in Baden will continue practicing piano. Thanks to Nathan, VM4U Furnishing Program Manager, and Jack for delivering the keyboard.
9/15 REFUGEE WELFARE CASE
A 17 year old played the cello for 10 years before coming to Vienna and has not played since. Jake took the initiative of contacting a cello maker, Mr. Gábor Kilyénfalvi (http://www.geigenbauer.at), who produced a cello at a discount. Jake and another donor generously purchased the cello for the young musician.
9/16 ACCOMODATIONS CASE
A family of 5, staying with a VM4U host family since the beginning, moved to their own accommodation. The VM4U Refugee Support Team facilitated the transition and two VM4U van teams assisted in moving the household.
