The recent outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war has severely affected the lives of many families throughout the world. Russian invasions and bombardments on Ukraine have led to many civilian deaths, but despite the risk, many Ukrainian residents still choose to join the battlefield to fight for their country.
LexYouth is raising a fundraiser event to help purchase medical supplies for the Ukrainian people who are suffering. We appeal to everyone to donate and help alleviate the suffering in Ukraine.
LexYouth volunteers will conduct the fundraising in the Lexington town center after school on March 1 and March 2. Youth volunteers and parents are welcome to join us. All donations will be used to aid the Ukrainian people. For details, please scan the code to join our WeChat group.
For more donation methods, please refer to
https://calexma.org/donate-to-ukrainians-in-need/
LexYouth By CALex
Feb 28, 2022
“We are all united”: The crisis from Ukrainian-American Perspectives
There are no clear skies in Ukraine. Since Russia’s invasion of the country on Feb. 24th, Ukraine has been bombarded with bombshells and assault rifles. According to recent estimates, approximately fourteen thousand people have been killed and almost three million have been displaced. Property damage is in the hundreds of billions.
Across the ocean, thousands of miles away, Ukrainian Americans are fervently looking to help their country–and more importantly, family and friends in Ukraine that have been affected by the conflict. At the Mar. 6 “Stand with Ukraine” rally in Boston, for example, over 3,000 people attended to protest Russian invasion and raise relief funds.
Ukrainian Americans are heavily engaged in relief efforts because of their personal ties to Ukraine. Many are terrified over what could happen to their friends and relatives as the conflict continues.
“Us being connected with relatives and friends and whatnot…it’s on our minds 24/7,” Auton Khlebas, an organizer of the Ukrainian Cultural Center of New England, the group that organized the Mar. 6 rally, said.
“When you see that neighborhoods in your hometown have been destroyed, it’s terrifying,” Saule, an attendee at the rally, said.
Despite looming dangers, many have also noted how–in a time of crisis–Ukraine and the rest of the world are more united than ever.
“I see how all Russian-speaking communities [are] getting together here in the United States…we all try to donate as much as we can,” Saule said.
“We are all just Ukrainian people. We are all united. We will win over Russia.” Valerie Henkin, a Ukrainian-American music teacher, said.
None one can predict the future of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict. But many agree that Ukranians and their communities, both locally and globally, must come together to support Ukraine through the crisis.
“Help Ukraine protect itself. Help Ukraine stop Russian aggression. Because that aggression means depriving people of their freedom,” Leo Gernovski, a Ukrainian American software architect, said.
CALex(Chinese Americans of Lexington) is one of the many organizations that has come together with the communit to raise funds supporting Ukraine crisis. Currently, we’ve raised over three thousand dollars to donate towards UN’s Ukranian Hummanitarian fund. The money will be used for to give medical supplies, food, and water to Ukraine’s most affected and vulnerable communities.
CALex needs your help do donate funds towards the Ukraine crisis. If you’d like to donate to provide emergency relief and humanitarian aid, please donate here.
CALex Donation:
【CALex和LexYouth第一批支持乌克兰捐款】
从上周CALex和LexYouth 发动捐款支持乌克兰人民以来，已经收到3000多美元的捐款。感谢积极捐款的乡亲和其他民众，也感谢LexYouth 的青少年义工们放学后冒着严寒在镇中心向行人募捐。
CALex认真研究了支持乌克兰的渠道，综合考虑各种因素，决定将上述第一批捐款捐给以下两个渠道：
1. 通过airbnb捐赠2000美元。该机构给乌克兰难民提供免费住宿，相关信息https://www.airbnb.org/help-ukraine；
2. 通过Newton的志愿者团队捐赠1000美元。该志愿者团队采购急需生活和医用用品，通过运输公司Meest把货物送到波兰，然后再发放给受战争影响的民众。相关信息https://www.facebook.com/events/344331267618565。
在选择合适的捐助渠道的过程中，我们首先考虑的是渠道的可靠性和可信度，同时也考虑了捐赠到达受惠民众的速度和效率、捐赠的消耗(比如被抽取的管理费用的比例)、渠道规模，以及受惠群体等因素。
CALex和LexYouth将持续接收捐款，以下为捐款途径：
PayPal: donation@calexma.org 或 https://paypal.me/CALexMA
请在notes中注明”Help Ukraine”和你的姓名(可以加上微信号)
更多捐款信息请查看 https://calexma.org/donate-to-ukrainians-in-need/
谢谢大家支持！
莱镇华盟CALex
莱镇青少年联盟LexYouth
www.CALexMA.org
www.LexYouth.org
Richard Liu, Joanna Liu
On the 24th of February, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion on its neighboring country and former USSR fellow member, Ukraine. For the past 9 years since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, tensions have been growing between the 2 nations, until the political broth finally bubbled out of the pot. But where did this conflict stem from, how have people with close ties to Ukraine been affected, and what can we, as outsiders do to help the situation?
On December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union, which contained modern day Ukraine and Russia, collapsed. What was once previously a united nation became 15 independent countries, with Russia being the largest of the 15. Although Ukraine was independent, the government remained pro-Russian under Yanukovych until 2014, when his government collapsed from revolts after he refused to join the EU. Shortly after Yanukovych’s exile from Ukraine, Russia annexed Crimea, taking control of much of Ukraine’s oil reserves. With the new government under Zelensky, Ukraine hoped to join NATO and the EU, which would have meant NATO being side by side with Russia. Additionally, if Ukraine decides to retake Crimea and the oil reserves in the water around it, Russia’s position as Europe’s only petrol country would be threatened. Under the claim that Ukraine was threatening the Russian people and that Ukraine is a Nazi country, Russia launched a “special operation”, a full-scale invasion on Ukraine.
Over the past week, we have interviewed 3 immigrants from Ukraine to get a better grasp of what the impact of this conflict is on Ukrainians in and out of the country. A common theme among the interviews was that Ukranians and Russians are like brothers and sisters, and that the whole conflict is similar to a civil war. Additionally, the interviewees stated that there is an immense amount of information blocking and propaganda being shown in Russia, causing the Russians to believe things that are the opposite of what western countries believe such as “(quote about ukraine bombing their own power plant)”, says Leo Gernovski. People in Ukraine are in constant danger of bombings, with hundreds of civillians and 16 children already being killed due to the Russian invasion. However, despite the terrible situation for Ukrainian civilians, our interviewees have stated that now, more than ever imaginable, Ukrainians are “more united than ever”, and that kindness is being shown in the most unexpected of places. One of our interviewees and Richard’s piano teacher Valerie described how a friend of hers in Ukraine was given free housing and food by people in a small village after fleeing the country.
So how can we, as Americans, help with the situation?
For starters, we can raise awareness about the situation. We could repost, retweet, and reblog news about the situation in Ukraine, and follow the news/encourage others to follow the news. Additionally, we could donate to different humanitarian funds for Ukraine, such as the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF) run by the United Nations. Although we cannot fight for Ukraine, we can at least help the situation for the military and civilians. “Democracy needs to be protected”.