I’ve never planned to found a Charity Fund, but extraordinary times require also extraordinary actions. Soon after the war came to Ukraine in February 2022 my homeland (Poland) has been obviously first destination for the refugees, mostly kids and women. And especially my home city of Lodz has become a central place for small kids (often orphans) escaping from the war. They located them in local orphanages - mostly empty thanks to really working adoption programs in the last two decades. Most of the kids were between 2 and 12 years old, too young to understand exactly what was happening. They experienced terrifying things (we've seen that all in the news recently). And that was the spark, which started it all - I knew I had to do something.
So with the help and support of my friends from all over the world, I managed to gather some money to help. But I knew I could do much more. And that was the moment when the idea of an official registered Charity Fund came to my mind.
So far thanks to the gesture of my friends I was able to purchase a lot of necessary equipment for the kids here, l white goods: fridges, cookers, washing machines, tumble dryers, etc. And to make their life a bit more colorful also big-screen TVs for them that they can forget about reality even for just a moment. But that's not the end, it's actually just the beginning. It’s a long-term process to bring these kids back to happiness and teach them how to live. So next steps are coming.
Additionally, some resources were used to purchase medical nutrition drinks, which we are still able to deliver by humanitarian convoy to the hospitals in Ukraine. Some of the kids there (especially in the oncology hospital) are in a condition, which doesn’t allow the paramedics to evacuate them. The drinks are the only way to let them survive this horrific time. And last but not least we managed to buy and deliver to Ukraine villages also first need articles and long-term food.
Also with help of my friends from abroad we managed to find some wound treatment and first aid equipment. Not only simple bandaids and syringes, but also burn-gel dressings, OLAES bandages, hemostatics like CELOX, and other trauma gear. It’s all critically needed in Ukraine to help to evacuate people, also kids. But they need more.
So if you'd be willing to help and donate - be sure it'll be used in the best way possible. It's a small fund, but thanks to that our cost of operation is virtually zero and my local involvement ensure that the help goes to kids in need, without middlemen.
The name of my fund "Help In a Backpack" is also not a coincidence. My passion for outdoor activities and personal relations with a lot of outdoor enthusiasts and the outdoor industry made this all possible. And outdoor is immediately connected with a backpack... hence the name. So let's make this backpack of help as big and as stuffed as possible!
Thank you!
Piotr Makuch (aka Piotr Ma on virtual media worldwide)
email: helpinabackpack@gmail.com
Fund name: Fundacja Pomocy Dzieciom i Ich Rodzinom Pomoc w Plecaku Registry number (KRS): 0000967944 Tax identity (NIP): 7292743868
Fund registry address:
Sw. Franciszka 12
Lodz 93-485
Poland
Account (IBAN): PL 86 1140 2004 0000 3702 8237 4493
Swift: BREXPLPWMBK
Bank: mBank S.A.
Fund's PayPal: helpinabackpack@gmail.com