The Ukraine Crisis Appeal, is a collaboration between the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO), Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) and Caritas Ukraine.
This is the largest Australian tax-deductible fundraising effort for Ukraine.
How can I donate?
You can donate online at www.ukrainecrisisappeal.org
There will be offline donation options coming soon.
What are the donation options?
You can donate a dollar a day, or make a single lump sum donation.
Are these donations tax deductible?
Yes!
The website says I can donate $50 a month, how does that work out to a dollar a day?
If you commit to $50 a month for a year, this equals $600 ($50 x 12 months). Your tax deduction benefit will be $250. The cost to you is only $350. That equals even less than a dollar a day to help Ukraine!
How will my donation help?
Your contribution will benefit three programs, which will provide training & support for current soldiers, veterans, their families and others in need.
These are:
- Occupational Therapy Training
- First Responder Program
- Ukrainian Veteran Program
What are these programs?
Occupational Therapy Training Program
Currently there is no official education course for Occupational Therapy (OT) in Ukraine. Occupational therapy is critical to the rehabilitation process enabling people to participate in all the activities of life they need and want to do.
This is a joint project between Curtin University, WA and the Ukrainian Society of Ergotherapists (OT). The program will be hosted by the Ukrainian Catholic University Lviv and would enable sustainable, world class rehabilitation skills training to occur, upskilling local health workers, who can then train others. To run this course, we need to raise $105,000 to help teach Ukrainians how to bring a better quality of life to the disabled and injured.
First Responder Program
Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) course is a well-designed, internationally recognised training program that prepares individuals (including volunteers) to work as part of the emergency response system. We lose veterans each day whilst they await medical treatment. Road traffic deaths are three times higher than Western Europe. As in other countries, the effective response of the emergency medical responder increases survivability from trauma and decreases the incidence of disability. Because ambulance response time varies widely across Ukraine, appropriately trained members of the public and veterans can provide immediate care prior to the arrival of the ambulance, which may help increase the survivability of patients.
Our aim is to support this program, with the cost per student approximately $170. A meagre amount when it comes to the number of lives that could be saved through this training.
Ukrainian Veteran Program
This program is currently helping 25 injured veterans and about 100 family members who require assistance. Their specific medical, psychological, domestic, legal and social needs were assessed and these needs are now being addressed, with a view to getting each veteran back on their feet. The goal is to enable them to re-engage as useful members of their communities and reduce their struggles as a result of being wounded. Further funds are needed to reach full rehabilitation and increased support. This program was designed in partnership with Caritas, with the initial $128,000 raised last year for the Crisis Appeal funding its development and initial supports.
Why were these programs chosen?
These three programs will fulfil immediate lifesaving needs of the crisis-affected civilian and veteran population in Ukraine. These programs also have incredible organisational partners and supporters, who previously successfully implemented these programs elsewhere around the world, with amazing outcomes. For example, using the first responder program, Israel achieved one of the shortest EMS response times in the world, highly improving results for patients.
Who is coordinating this?
A dedicated humanitarian aid committee within the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations is coordinating the Ukraine Crisis Appeal, with each special program listed above having partner organisations who coordinate rolling out these initiatives in Ukraine. For the Occupational Therapy Training Program we are working with Curtin University (WA), the Ukrainian Society of Ergotherapists and Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. The Emergency First Responder course is accredited by the American Health and Safety Institute and approved by the Ukrainian Ministry of Healthcare. The Veteran Program is run through Caritas.
