Further Information

Why Sunflower Donations

The war in Ukraine is still raging even though news are not as prominent as they were in the beginning. People have lost family members and relatives, lost their home, their jobs and all their belongings.
Inflation is raging and has almost doubled since the war began, from 11.7% in February to 21.5% in June and winter is closing in sooner than we think. Sirens sound all over the country every day.
When I talk to people over there it has happened that we hear bombs falling and the conversation breaks off and we do not know if everything is ok until the next morning. When I write this it the last time it happened was yesterday.

There are many ways for us to donate to help refugees and to causes related to the war in Ukraine. Many of them are worthy causes and by supporting those you can indeed do good but there are a few reasons why we decided to come up with one more way to help.

It began by me getting to know some people in Ukraine, those people are surrounded by individuals and families that need help but they have limited means to help them. Some have even given all they have to help their neighbours.
So I thought maybe I could find an online store in Ukraine, do some shopping, just like we do all the time, pay from here but have them pick it up over there.
I tried to buy some school supplies for the children, nothing much. It is not a big amount for me but would help them. I chose a delivery point in a shopping mall in the city in which they live but I was not able to pay. The payment never went through no matter what I tried.
But this made me think that this is something we should be able to do.
That is to say we should be able to do business with companies in Ukraine, buy what is needed for those that we are helping, and by doing that we would be strengthening local infrastructure and business, helping them stay open and pay wages and taxes. The alternative would be to buy supplies in other countries and send with the involved cost of transport, manpower, oil etc as well as any tax or added value of the transaction, be it food, medicine, clothing that is being bought etc does not help Ukrainian infrastructure. So I thought this could be another way to help both local business as well as recipients of donations.

The group involved in the project are from various countries. I myself am the project manager here in Iceland, I manage the website design but I am in contact with people in other countries regarding the project.

Volunteers in Ukraine will organise on the ground over there. Their part is to be in contact with individuals regarding their needs as well as companies which can deliver what is needed or provide the service they need.
They will then put the information on the website, donors can then choose what cause they want to support and donate through the website or even directly to the business providing the service when that is possible.
Recipients of donation would then receive service or pick up things in their vicinity.

I hope you understand why I will not disclose who else is working on the project, especially those on the ground in Ukraine. Usually I would do that, show who else is involved and what their role within the group is but this project is different. The reason being their security. We have heard there are groups working within Ukraine that are a threat to civilian safety by committing acts of terror and revenge, the war is not just on the frontlines.

I am trying to work as fast as I can so that the website can go online so that we can start helping our friends in Ukraine as soon as possible.
All donations that do not go towards making the website will of course go to a family or a good cause in Ukraine. I hope dear friends you can find it in your heart to donate generously so that the project gets a good powerful start. Our friends on the ground in Ukraine certainly need our help.

To the world you may be one person but to one person you could be the world!