Vladimir Putin’s so-called “special operation” in Ukraine that started in the early hours of Feb. 24 has resulted in the genocidal destruction of this nation. As the situation constantly develops for the worse, innocent civilians suffer and casualties number in the thousands. The catastrophic ruination of this country has wrought a humanitarian crisis in daunting proportions. As much as governments imposed sanctions on Russia, the kind and compassionate people of the world have also stepped forth to make a difference. The John Adams High School community can help in various ways including donating to charities, attending demonstrations, consuming Ukrainian media, and spreading awareness about the conflict. 

The foremost way of supporting Ukraine right now is through funding charitable institutions. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has operated for over seventy years and is working to keep the Ukrainian border open to deliver assistance. Likewise, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society is a nonprofit organization that specializes in supplying medical aid to Ukraine. The National Bank of Ukraine created its own fundraising account for Ukraine’s armed forces and is open to a wide variety of currencies. Many other charities provide food packages, water, shelter, and various other supplies based on the goal of the agency. There are many similar organizations such as UNICEF, Nova Ukraine, International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders, and CARE. This list is not limited and there are many more charities that should also be considered. There are many excellent tools to help people safely find charities online such as Charity Navigator, Charity Watch, Candid, GiveWell, and the Internal Revenue Service database.

Scammers have no qualms in exploiting wartime conditions and go to great lengths to deceive people. Money requests on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter are best to be avoided. Any given person can easily make an account and create a fraudulent profile with a fabricated emotional backstory. Charities are suspicious when they ask for a donation through cash, bitcoin, or wire transfer because a fraud would not want their money to be traced back to them. It is best to avoid crowdfunding sites such as Gofundme or any site that has over-exaggerated claims as to where the money goes. Scammers provide few details on what money will be allocated for, nor any evidence that they have been using funds to help people at all. The informational site welivesecurity by ESET gave a list of fraudulent domains to avoid at all costs such as help-for-ukraine[.]eu, tokenukraine[.]com, supportukraine[.]today, ukrainecharity[.]gives, ukrainesolidarity[.]org, ukraine-solidarity[.]com, saveukraine[.]today.

For those who may not be able to donate money, there are other options to contribute to this effort. They can follow Ukrainian-based news outlets that are conveniently available in English, such as The Kyiv Independent, Euromaidan Press, Kyiv Post, Ukraine World, Ukrinform, and The New Voice of Ukraine. For more information regarding the conflict in Ukraine, the site https://war.ukraine.ua/ is an excellent platform with verified information about the war and includes more ways to support Ukraine. This website functions as an archive that documents Russian aggression and war crimes. Being knowledgeable about Ukrainian history and current events is very helpful for an individual in making political decisions to support this country from home.

Students of JAHS could join and participate in the school’s Ukrainian Solidarity Club. This club is headed by Ukrainian native Nika Anderson and her organization plans fundraisers and community events. Her group wants to host demonstrations and activism that could be as simple as planting sunflowers or wearing blue with yellow. For more details, please contact JAHS librarian Mrs. Brady or IB Coordinator Mrs. Hernandez. Ukrainian Solidarity Club is open for anybody to join and they look forward to seeing more members.