Dear Friends of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation,

The war in Ukraine continues. Its brutality has horrified the world; its dangers have forced a great and unpredictable shift in history. There is reason to worry, reason to mourn, but also reason to hope. The world community has rallied. There is a renewed sense of meaning and urgency to democracy. And Ukraine itself continues to offer a heroic resistance.

Still, the cost is enormous, and will only grow. We must continue to support those on the ground working to mitigate the humanitarian disaster brought about by outright war. The major charities like Save the Children, Médécins sans Frontières, Ukrainian Red Cross, and Polish Red Cross are operating across the conflict. Among Ukrainian organizations, Razom has also been operating at scale, and has been widely endorsed: https://razomforukraine.org/

In this email, however, we’d like once more to highlight for you some smaller organizations and initiatives that are also doing essential work on the frontlines.

Cash for Refugees. A group of Americans with roots in Russian and Ukraine have organized an ad-hoc program to distribute small amounts of cash (in the hundreds of dollars) to refugees coming across the border to Romania. This allows people the dignity and flexibility of being able to spend some money as they make their way across Europe. https://www.cashforrefugees.org/

Children’s Corner at the Berlin Main Train Station (Hauptbahnhof). Thousands of refugees are pouring into the main train station in Berlin, many of them children, some of them unaccompanied. A group of volunteers in Berlin is raising funds to support a daycare: to care for the children, watch them, and distribute toys, snacks, and warm clothing. Donations can be made through this website (a European equivalent of GoFundMe):
https://www.betterplace.me/donations-for-childrens-corner-at-berlin-hbf

The 24.02 Fund. This is the brainchild of a small independent news outlet in Ukraine called Zaborona Media, which has long been at the forefront of critical journalism in the country (documenting everything from relations with Russia to corruption in the Ukrainian government). They are now raising funds to support Ukrainian journalists in the war, including buying them supplies and protective gear. https://2402.org/

Vostok SOS. This organization has been working in Ukraine to help resettle refugees displaced from eastern Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict with Russian in 2014. They are well-placed on the ground to expand their humanitarian efforts across the country. You can support them here via bank transfer:
https://vostok-sos.org/en/ukraine-under-fire-support-vostok-sos-aid-operation/
Or via credit card through their Swiss partner, Libereco: https://www.lphr.org/en/spenden/

It’s also important to continue to make your voices heard in the halls of power. Write your representatives (for instance, via the site democracy.io) to call for what your conscience dictates when it comes to supporting Ukraine, de-escalation, and diplomacy.

Thank you to you all for your generosity and passion for peace in this difficult time.

In Solidarity,
Matthew Spellberg for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation