When your child – or a loved one – is sick, hurt, or in trouble there’s not even a question that you’d do anything and everything to take care of them.
When your friend is struggling you’re there to support them. That’s what friends do, right?
That’s why community is so powerful.
It helps to know you’re not alone.
But when there’s a massive humanitarian crisis it can feel overwhelming.
What could I do? How could I help? How much of a difference could I even make?
It can feel so distressing – and depressing – that it’s sometimes easier to simply switch off the TV.
I have been so moved by the scenes and stories coming out of Ukraine in the past few days.
My grandmother’s family came from Ukraine.
They fled to England before the Holocaust began. Sadly, any of her family who remained were murdered by the Nazis. So, I never knew any relatives there.
But I’m connected by a shared sense of humanity.
As the proverb goes, there but by the grace of God go I…
Ukraine is in crisis and I was personally moved to read about the acute sense of panic in the Jewish community, where Holocaust survivors and their descendants carry a long history of trauma.
This is a photo of Putin meeting with his Defense Minister, Shoigu and Chief of General Staff, Gerasimov in the Kremlin, yesterday.
Below it is a photo of Ukrainian President Zelensky, also meeting with his Defense Minister, on the same day.
When the United States offered to send a plane to take him to safety, he responded, “The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride.”
He chose to stay in his country to stand up to Russian aggression. What courage that takes when you know that Russian forces are attempting to capture or kill you.
Zelensky is a former actor and comedian. How he’s showing up in the face of the Russian invasion reminds me of the words of William Shakespeare: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.”
I just saw a photo of Ukrainian students, making bombs to defend their city. This time last week, they were studying and reading books. That’s courage.
As I write, almost 6,000 Russian citizens have been arrested for demonstrating against the invasion of Ukraine. That takes courage, too.
Look at the photo below. Can you imagine being a high school teacher one day and the very next being told to carry a weapon, to fight one of the most powerful armies in modern times?
No wonder this young woman is weeping.
My wife, Monique and I are making a matching donation of $5,300 for donations to any Ukrainian relief effort. My good friends John Davy and Marissa Peer immediately offered to match this with another $5,300 – also as a matching donation…
Please donate and send a copy of the receipt for your donation to [email protected] and we’ll personally match it. Together, we could raise over $21,000 for the people of Ukraine.
What can one person do?
More than you can imagine…
Love. Rich.
PS. There are many organizations where you can donate. Here are three of them:
Wherever you donate, send your receipt to [email protected], so I can match it.
And hug your family close tonight.
Loving you,
Rich