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You are here: Home / War in Ukraine / Obama Foundation: How You Can Help the People of Ukraine + ActBlue Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Obama Foundation: How You Can Help the People of Ukraine + ActBlue Balloon Juice for Ukraine

by | 72 Comments

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Image from Schroedinger’s Cat




I don’t think anyone can go wrong donating to organizations that arrive in the form of a list from the Obama Foundation.

The impact of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has been devastating. And while the situation continues to escalate, so does the need for help—from emergency relief on the ground, to support for those fleeing to neighboring countries.

Many of our Obama leaders in Europe are on the front lines of this war. Devoted to creating lasting change in their communities, and advancing the principles of democracy, equality, and human dignity, they are assisting along the border and adapting their work to bravely support those in Ukraine during this time of crisis.

We reached out to our leaders network to identify the organizations listed below that are doing critical humanitarian work right now. We hope you’ll consider making a donation to amplify these efforts.

As President Obama stated, “People of conscience around the world need to loudly and clearly condemn Russia’s actions and offer support for the Ukrainian people.”

Help the people of Ukraine by supporting one of these organizations:

Fight for Right:

Ukrainian Obama Leader Yuliia Sachuk’s organization, Fight for Right, promotes and protects the human rights of people living with disabilities in her community. In response to the crisis, Fight for Right is coordinating accessible shelter, evacuations, and emergency services–ensuring those living with disabilities aren’t left out of the humanitarian efforts. Their Go Fund Me page is the place for direct donations.

Hungarian Helsinki Committee:

Obama Leader András Léderer and his team at the Hungarian Helsinki Committee have been helping provide free-of-charge legal assistance and representation to refugees in Hungary for decades. Right now, they are focused on helping asylum seekers from Ukraine find professional and free legal assistance.

Fundacja Ocalenie:

Following reports that a number of African and Indian students have faced discrimination and racism at the border of Poland while trying to escape to safety, Fundacja Ocalenie has stepped in to provide support.

Kyiv Independent:

The Kyiv Independent, an English-language media outlet, was launched three months ago and was created on the principles of independent journalism and free-press. The goal of their Go Fund Me campaign is to keep the accurate news coming.

Polish Migration Forum:

This Polish organization is offering a free crisis hotline to assist people who are being affected by the Ukrainian crisis, including individuals who have fled the country, families worried about the well-being of their children, and those who have relatives in Ukraine and are feeling a sense of hopelessness.

Cordélia Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims:

A Hungarian nonprofit that has experience helping severely traumatized asylum seekers, refugees, and their family members. They provide counseling and advanced psychiatric support.

Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights:

The Urgent Action Fund is helping support women, transgender, and nonbinary activists on the ground in and around Ukraine, by providing flexible funding, access to communication channels, and medical support.

International Organization for Migration (IOM):

IOM is scaling up its humanitarian operations in Ukraine and neighboring countries, providing emergency services in health, shelter, winter supplies, and protection.

Association for Legal Intervention:

This Polish NGO has been providing pro bono legal work for migrants and refugees since 2005. Due to the rapidly changing rules and individual cases of those fleeing Ukraine, the Association for Legal Intervention just launched a dedicated legal portal to provide prompt legal advice.

I will be adding these to WAR IN UKRAINE – located in the blue category bar up top and the top item in the mobile menu.

Someone suggested stickers.  If you want one, you now have a choice of four:

 

 

Ukraine: It's Not Possible To Do Enough, But We Can All Do Something 1

 

Much respect to the people of Ukraine.  And their leaders.

ActBlue Donations: Balloon Juice for Ukraine

International Fund for Animal Welfare: IFAW has partnered with the Poznań Zoo in Poland to provide temporary shelter and care for wildlife rescued from the conflict in Ukraine.   And they are rushing emergency aid to animal shelters in Ukraine.

World Central Kitchen:  Feeding people in Ukraine and refugees at the border

Americares Foundation: Americares has an emergency response team on the way to Poland to support health services for families affected by the escalating humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. The team, which is headed to Krakow, has expertise in coordinating large-scale shipments of medicine and relief supplies and mobilizing emergency medical teams in crisis situations

International Rescue Committee: The IRC is working with partners in Poland and Ukraine that are quickly mobilizing resources to provide critical support to civilians forced to flee their homes.

ActBlue took away their thermometers, so all we get is this horizontal bar. DougJ has written to ActBlue asking if there is a way to get the thermometers back, but we don’t hold out much hope. In the meantime, this horizontal bar is what we get.

ActBlue splits evenly between all 4 of these organizations by default, but if you don’t want to give to all of them and just want to give to one or two or whatever, click on “Customize the amounts” BEFORE you select your payment method.  I split between World Central Kitchen and the Animal Welfare fund, and it worked just fine.  




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Reader Interactions

72Comments

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    Just to be clear, the bar at the bottom goes to the 4 charities I have listed at the bottom.

    Clicking the links from President Obama gives to those charities

    P.S. Would you like a sticker?

  7. 7.

    Lyrebird

    @WaterGirl:

    Thanks WG!  Just put in $25.  I can haz sticker?  The sunflower one from schroedinger’s cat would be my first choice.

  9. 9.

    planetjanet

    I am in as well.  Just the little push I needed, Watergirl. The second sticker would be nice.

  10. 10.

    Miss Bianca

    @WaterGirl: Wait, DougJ set this up for us? *goes back to read post* THANK YOU, DOUGJ!

    And I can haz Schrodinger’s Cat’s Stand with Ukraine sticker? Just cause.

  18. 18.

    Gin & Tonic

    Thank you, WaterGirl, and everyone who has donated or will donate. Every bit helps.

  23. 23.

    Jerzy Russian

    @WaterGirl:   I just realized that perhaps you were responding to me.  I saw the 4 charities listed, and took the default breakdown between them.

    I will take the first “Russian Warship, fuck yourself” sticker.

  26. 26.

    WaterGirl

    @Jerzy Russian: I hadn’t really intended to combine the Obama post with the Balloon Juice for Ukraine post, but that’s the way th timing worked out.

    So I just wanted to be clear that they were two separate things.

  29. 29.

    Nelle

    I donated to the Friends of Mennonite Centre in Molonchansk, a small social service agency largely funded by Mennonites in North America whose ancestors came from that area.  They are feeding as many in surrounding areas that they can and are running short of food.  It is headquartered in the school that my aunts attended.  As far as I know, there are no longer any ethnic Mennonites in this area, but there is still a connection to the land and our history there.

    I was there in 2018.  One of the leaders of our trip wrote this:

    I had no idea that four years later I would watch Russian tanks drive over these same fields; no idea that I would have to send messages asking colleagues and friends if they were still safe. It was also four years ago that I wrote the introduction to the book, the Russian Mennonite Story. When I wrote these words, I had no idea how important this responsibility would become for those of us who share history with Ukraine:

    [We need to understand] our responsibility to this land and its people. It is not enough to dip our toes in the Dnipro, take pictures of the remnants of former Mennonite buildings, and eat watermelon grown in the soil once ploughed by our ancestors. We have a responsibility—to ourselves, our children, and our ancestors—to engage with this story and with the land that produced it. This is not about dwelling in an idealized past, but rather contributing to the future of a place that meant so much to those we love.

  30. 30.

    Joy in FL

    In for $50.
    The stickers are all great. I would like the one with the sunflower on the blue and yellow background by Schroedinger’s Cat.

  32. 32.

    Scuffletuffle

    Just did $100, but didnt get the option to choose the split…dont know why.

    Second warship sticker preferred.

  36. 36.

    Another Scott

    I give monthly to the Obama Foundation. They do good work. I’ll check out their list a little later.

    Donated to the B-J groups. They do good work too.

    s-c’s sticker, please. Thanks very much.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  38. 38.

    normal liberal

    I Acted Blue for World Central Kitchen. For now, at least, since I think we’ll need to continue well past that $5,000.  And I’d like Schrodinger’s Cat’s perfect sticker, please.

  39. 39.

    Madeleine

    @Madeleine: Thinking about it, I decided to say something about why I contributed to Fight for Right. It’s personal. I’m partially blind—peripheral vision is gone. Negotiating a war zone could be very difficult for people who are disabled, and they —we—can be overlooked, left behind.

    edited for typo

  40. 40.

    Scuffletuffle

    @WaterGirl: didnt get to, got booted out as soon as I hit paypal…lol!

    But the donation went through and I am happy with my sticker so?‍♀️

  44. 44.

    Mike in NC

    I put in $50 last week via ActBlue and will be happy to kick another $50 tomorrow.

  45. 45.

    CaseyL

    Just kicked in $25 to the BJ Fund.  For my sticker, I’d like the one with Grandma and the Sunflower.

    Thanks so much for doing this, WaterGirl and DougJ!

    Ukraine: It's Not Possible To Do Enough, But We Can All Do Something 1

  46. 46.

    Glidwrith

    $50 to the Kitchen, $50 to animal Rescue. I have a visual in my head of a giant sunflower telling the warship to go fuck itself.

  47. 47.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Just sent $50 to the BJ Act Blue, to be divided between WCK and animal rescue.

    Thank you for doing this, WG and DougJ.

  51. 51.

    Churchy LaFemme

    @Nelle: Thank you, for providing a way to donate, and say Thank You to the Mennonite community. One of their nursing homes, here in Iowa, provided wonderful care for my mother-in-law, in her final years.

  54. 54.

    Ann Marie

    @Scuffletuffle: I had the same thing happen.  I said just two of them, then it wouldn’t take PayPal (my usual for ActBlue Express) and when I finally entered a credit card, it went through with a four way split.  Not that they are bad organizations, but not what I intended.

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    @Ann Marie: Mine was going to go through with a 4-way split even thought I had split between only two.  I changed the donation amount to 0 and then added my two donations to the kitchen and the pets, and then it worked fine.

    I had forgotten that I had to take the extra step or I would have warned people up top to double check their split before giving the final okay.

  57. 57.

    WaterGirl

    We hit the $5k mark overnight, before the daytime folks had a chance to contribute, so I have asked DougJ to up the goal to $10k.

  58. 58.

    rekoob

    Chipped in $100, split between World Central Kitchen and the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Perhaps the “I Stand With Ukraine” sticker, at your convenience, and many thanks WaterGirl and DougJ for all the organizing!

  59. 59.

    PaulB

    I’m getting a good tax refund this year, so I chipped in a thousand on ActBlue with the default split of $250 per organization.

  62. 62.

    Heidi Mom

    I gave $50 to the International Rescue Committee (donated to IFAW and WCK before this effort began).  I Stand with Ukraine sticker, at your convenience, and thanks for doing this!

  66. 66.

    dkinPa

    I’ve held off donating to Ukraine, because I prefer to go through Act Blue, and I figured it was only a matter of time before BJ put up a thermometer.  I was reading Acts of Kindness this morning when I noticed the sidebar!  Yay!  Thank you, DougJ and WaterGirl — you guys are the best!  I kicked in $50 and would like Russian Warship to go f**k itself.

  67. 67.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Donated $25. I’ll take “I stand with Ukraine” please.

    But I’ve been dying to see “Russian Warship, Go Fuck Yourself” in the original language. Does anyone know the original Russian or Ukrainian words that were spoken?

  69. 69.

    eachother

    I’m in.  Thank you for the opportunity to support very innocent victims.

    F**K  putin

  71. 71.

    eachother

    @WaterGirl: If someone would stick one on the gate of the Russian ambassador’s DC house, I would appreciate it.
    Also, candidly, I don’t understand the sticker details. I like the sunflower one. ?

Comments are closed.