Eliana shares what you can do to help, as an FHS High School Student, people on the other side of the globe.
Imagine that watching your country being terrorized and attacked by another country, they want to claim your homeland as their own.
Violence is used to scare the country into giving up their fight for independence. People are dying from the bombs being fired, houses and buildings are being destroyed, the whole country is a warzone.
Ukraine struggles to keep their country afloat and citizens safe, it’s extremely important that other countries can provide anything they can. In a Washington Post article, Polish mothers have been leaving strollers near train stations for any refugee mothers to use for their children; it states, “Families in these hospitals told reporters that as terrifying as it was to give birth in a bombarded hospital, they were even more afraid of what would come next.” Having a safe and sane delivery of their child isn’t the biggest concern for mothers now. It’s what lies outside the hospital, which can’t be healthy for the mother or the baby.
Now, you’re watching this living in a country that’s on the opposite side of the world. You see neighboring countries helping in the way you wish you could. You’re just a regular high school kid, oceans away from the conflict.
The Red Cross has been working with partners to provide SIM cards, mobile phones, and mental-health support for people who have fled to neighboring Ukrainian countries. Donate those old phones sitting in the back of your deskdrawer collecting dust.
On the FHS website there’s a list of items that are being accepted to be donated by March 30. The list varies from first aid kits to tissues, so something lying around that you can donate! The items are being donated to the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Perth Amboy.
Although kids can’t donate millions of dollars for Ukraine, maybe you can donate an small amount of money consistently. A Forbes article provides a list of organizations you can donate to. Money donations are the biggest way, and probably most preferable way to help, especially considering how far we are from Ukraine. You can donate to any of the following organizations, as well: The Ukrainian Red Cross, World Central Kitchen, or USA for UNHCR.
The easiest way to help Ukraine is to show support on social media. A great majority of us have cell phones that with just a few taps we can repost things that we want to bring light or attention to. For example, reposting the information from the FHS website, mentioned earlier, with the requested items for donations would be something great.
By simply reposting, you act as a new source for the people in our town, so be careful about misinformation. Even doing the bare minimum by posting #standwithukraine to show support can help more than you might think.