Friends and colleagues,

The White Stork team recently completed our largest delivery to date in Ukraine where we also conducted a needs assessment for our winter campaign.

Three teams embarked on separate missions: Grace Kim, our head of strategy, along with Doug Hauer, our advisor, delivered 400 IFAKs to Sumy in northeastern Ukraine and met with government officials and partners in Lviv, Kyiv, Sumy, and Rivne; Matt Vacca, our chief of staff, helped evacuate the family of a U.S. embassy partner from Kyiv; and William McNulty, Max Cormier, Michael Matthews, and our Ukrainian partners delivered 400 shovels, 1100 IFAKs, drones, and cold weather gear to army and Marine brigades in Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Donetsk.

We did this alongside our Ukrainian partners despite missile and drone attacks in every city we visited. So what was the mood of our Ukrainian friends?

Defiance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky best captured their spirit in a message last month to the Kremlin. “Without gas or without you? Without you. Without light or without you? Without you. Without water or without you? Without you. Without food or without you? Without you,” he said.

As Ukraine enters into a hard winter without reliable electricity and heating, your support can make a difference. White Stork is raising $2,000,000 for our winter campaign. The funds will be used to conduct evacuations and provide generators, fuel haulers, first aid kits, drones, and other items to help Ukraine weather this winter. Please join our supporters Polsky Foundation, Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, TAWANI Foundation, BNSF Railways Foundation, and many others, by making a donation here.

White Stork has raised approximately $3mm in cash donations and delivered over $8mm of in-kind donations this year. We’ve been able to run lean thanks to the generosity of skilled volunteers and a small leadership team that has 20+ years of non-profit management experience.

The White Stork Team

How will White Stork utilize winter campaign funds?

Evacuations: we are seeking $200,000 to continue our evacuation program. Using the idle network of tourist buses, we have reduced the cost of evacuations to $12/head. ‘People out. Medical supplies in’ has been our mantra since day 1.

Generators: we are seeking $500,000 to purchase generators. These range in costs from $1,000 to $4,000 depending on the type and White Stork receives preferred pricing. This is our number one supply request at the moment.

Bulk fuel operations: we are seeking $200,000 to purchase fuel haulers for both benzine and diesel. This would purchase 8 used fuel haulers at $25,000 each.

First aid kits: we are seeking $300,000 for our ongoing commitments to Ukrainian defense forces, Ukrainian Railways, Ukrainian Post Office, and State Emergency Services. IFAKs cost $92 each while field medic backpacks cost $900 each.

Sustainability packs: ($200 each) we are seeking $400,000 to provide 2,000 families with sustainability packs that contain non-perishable food and water, gas stoves, winter blankets, and warm clothing.

Non-lethal drones: ($3,200 each) we are seeking $100,000 to provide drones to the Ukrainian defense forces. These are used for mine clearing operations and to protect civilians in occupied cities.

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