Ukrainian Refugees Sustained by a Rotary Partnership for Peace
August 22, 2022
Please check out the Disaster Response Grants that have a special exemption for Ukraine. It permits Rotarians anywhere in the world to originate DRGs to aid Ukrainians or Ukrainian refugees for up to $25,000.
The NC District 7710 leaders chose to apply for a DRG to support the more than 90,000 Ukrainian refugees sheltering in Moldova. Through PFP we learned that RPCVs Friends of Moldova was on the ground in Moldova and had been supporting Ukrainian refugees and their Moldovan friends since the war began. Among other things, Friends of Moldova had opened emergency centers which were distributing about $20,000 of food and basic hygiene supplies to refugees every week. Through Friends of Moldova, connections were made between District 7710 Rotarians and the local English-speaking Moldova Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Chisinau Cosmopolitan. The local Rotarians agreed to provide oversight and reporting of the Disaster Response Grant project activities. There are several multi-District DRGs in the works now.
It was amazing how quickly the DRGs are managed. There was less than a week turnaround for the funds to arrive. The $25,000 in grant funds went directly to the vendor where goods were purchased and delivered: food and hygiene supplies to sustain an estimated 2,400 refugees, including 900 children, for another week. It is amazing the magnitude of the need and how much our Rotary and the DRG could quickly help.
Through the vision and connections of Rotarians and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, Partnering for Peace together with The Rotary Foundation, provided comfort and care to thousands of innocent people struggling to deal with the impacts of war in their homeland.
DETAILS: DRGs work at the Rotary DISTRICT level, not club level. Only one per District is allowed at one time. There is NO matching fund requirement. You just apply, they send your district the funds, and you send it to the trustworthy NGO, or local Rotary club, or even straight to the vendor. You just need a local Rotary club to oversee and validate the delivery and send a receipt and bank details. Write kimydixon92@gmail.com if you have further questions or go directly to Crisis in the Ukraine on the Rotary site.
"Imagine, a world that deserves our best, where we get up each day knowing that we can make a difference."
Jennifer Jones, Rotary International President 2022 – 2023.