I am consumed by the news from Ukraine. I know that many are, and should be. That son-of-a-bitch Putin is causing an extraordinary disaster. Everyone is writing about it, of course. My story gets a little personal.
One of my best friends – let’s call him the Big Tuna, as that was a nickname when we went to college together – is Ukrainian. Tuna is first generation in USA so most of his family are from and still live in Ukraine. They live in a small village outside Lviv, on the western side of the country (thank goodness…so far). Tuna’s family has been in this village since the 1600s, so are reluctant to evacuate. Add to this that the Ukraine government require (understandably) all men between 18 and 60 years old to join the armed forces, and they will surely not leave the country.
So…Tuna has been speaking with them regularly, and then his two sons made a decision. They decided to travel to Ukraine. The younger one is a journalist and plans to write about the war, but he decided to collect some medical supplies and bring them along. He told his dad that he hoped to raise $1,000 or maybe $3,000 to collect these supplies. His father (Tuna) activated our network and in a week or so, they had over $20,000 in donations. The two boys left for Poland with 7 huge duffle bags of medical supplies.
They arrived today in Krakow and found a hotel. They thought they had arranged transportation across the border, thanks to a contact I gave them in Poland, but this didn’t work out. The boys were nervous because they didn’t know who the driver would be, didn’t believe he spoke any english and they worried about getting taken advantage of.
Tuna called me and put me on with his sons. I sent out some more feelers through my own network and identified two additional Polish executives. I spoke to each of them on the phone and they were wonderful. They were already helping the Ukes; one of them is hosting a Ukrainian family in his home and took a break from dinner to speak to me. They are both going to call who they know to find a suitable transport for Tuna’s sons, from Krakow to Lviv.
Tuna’s younger boy will be writing for Ukrainian Weekly so anyone who wants to follow along, subscribe and/or donate: https://subscription.ukrweekly.com/.
Let’s see how they do tomorrow!
mikesteinharter.com 