By Anastasiia Baraniuk | Specialist of Individual Fundraising
Dear kind heart,
Some stories are hard to forget. Especially when they are about impossible choices — leaving everything behind and becoming a refugee. Because of Russia's full-scale invasion, many Ukrainian families were forced to make this choice.
June 20 marks World Refugee Day — a day that highlights millions of stories of survival and courage. Today, we want to share our challenges and thank you — none of this would have been possible without your support.
When the full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022, Ukraine's healthcare system was thrown into chaos. Missiles targeted hospitals, families sheltered in basements, cancer treatment was interrupted.
We had to act. During the first months, we worked around the clock to bring critically ill children to safety. Together with international and local partners, we helped evacuate over 1,600 children with cancer through SAFER Ukraine — one of the largest medical evacuations of its kind.
Our mechanism was unique. Families contacted us through hotlines in Ukraine and Poland. Coordinators gathered medical records and current locations. We supported families financially and logistically to reach our hub in Lviv. We organized transfers via bus or train from active war zones, despite roads being under constant attack.
At Lviv hospital, doctors were on duty 24/7. Children in all treatment stages were included. Twice a week, buses left for Poland, each convoy accompanied by the Polish Consulate and ambulances to avoid border queues. The largest convoy included 71 families, 4 buses, and 11 ambulances.
At the Unicorn Clinic, near Kielce, Poland, some children were hospitalized immediately. Others were transferred to European and North American hospitals. Families who had nowhere else to turn found their path to safety.
This World Refugee Day, many Ukrainian children still live far from home. Yet they are recovering, growing, dreaming again.
But the war is not over. The challenges remain. We continue to work every day for the main goal: no Ukrainian child should die from cancer. From the bottom of our hearts — thank you. For believing in the power of care. For ensuring that even in war, no child fights cancer alone. For standing with us.
By Anastasiia Baraniuk | Specialist of Individual Fundraising
By Sofiia Kostenko | Specialist of Individual Fundraising
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
