Ukrainian Relief Mission In The News

On his fourth trip to Poland, this time with Jim Peterson accompanying him, Tom “T.J.” Johnson and Jim did a remote segment with WBZ-TV as a follow up to a segment the station aired last month.

Friends, family and donors of the Ukrainian Relief Mission gathered in Pate’s Restaurant on June 10 to hear about founder Tom Johnson’s latest trip to Poland.

Johnson, who started the fund on March 29, has already traveled to Poland four times since, providing aid for Ukrainian refugees. On June 10 he discussed his most recent trip and mission’s vision, which he said splits into three parts: advocacy, moments of dignity and stability.

WBZ-TV's Rachel Holt came down to the Cape to catch up with Tom Johnson and Jim Peterson, and learn about the Ukrainian Relief Mission and its work.

Tom Johnson and Jim Peterson spent nearly an hour detailing what the Ukrainian Relief Mission is doing to help Ukrainian refugees in Poland on the NightSide with Dan Rea.

By: Tim Wood

CHATHAM – Nearly two million refugees have streamed into Poland from Ukraine since the Russian invasion. Most are having their basic needs taken care of, thanks to a massive response by the Polish government and citizens. It's what happens next that worries Tom Johnson.

“While I was there for a week most of the country filled up,” he said. “It's stunning,” he said of the streams of refugees lining up at the border.

As the conflict drags on, many of the refugees will eventually have to go elsewhere, and while countries in the European Union and elsewhere are working to streamline the process of accepting Ukrainian refugees, most displaced people will require help with paperwork and travel. Johnson hopes the nonprofit he founded with fellow owners of Pate's Restaurant, the Ukrainian Relief Mission Charitable Corporation, will be able to help.

During his recent visit to Poland, where he has been doing business for more than a dozen years, Johnson, a Harwich homeowner, began laying the foundation to provide assistance in the process. There are likely to be “large barriers” for many refugees, he said, including the shock and physical and mental trauma most have suffered. He's started the process of the organizing gaining compliance with the Polish government and the U.S. State Department, and in the next few weeks will strategize on how to scale up efforts to try to accelerate the process of helping refugees find their way to someplace safe and stable, until it is safe to return.

Because, said Johnson, when asked, refugees say all they want is for the fighting to end so they can go home.

Right now, however, most are focused on ensuring they have shelter and food. While the Polish government has gone to great lengths to try to accommodate the influx, it's a grassroots effort by citizens that has made a major difference, Johnson said. Towns on the interior, not just along the border, have been “extraordinary” in opening communities and homes to refugees “unconditionally,” he said. While the two countries have a complicated history, that has been put aside in the wake of the humanitarian crisis.

“I really saw the best of it,” Johnson said of the response to the situation.

But that is putting a strain on the country's resources. While he was in Poland, Johnson said he went to several homes where refugees were being put up. One housed 30 people who had to scrounge for food and had just a small dorm-sized refrigerator.

“So we bought them a refrigerator and filled it with food,” he said. When he learned a home where other refugees were living was short of beds, he bought them some.

“There needs to be maybe a thousand of me,” he said. “There's going to be these gaps.”

Johnson said he decided to act because he had the contacts in Poland and the organizational abilities through his entrepreneurial background to make a difference. While there are many places around the globe where refugees are suffering, his skills translate best here because “this is Europe. The shock and horror of it all has touched all of us. I've never done anything like this, but I felt this was the time to do it.”

“How you do that is you go there,” he said.

Early in the conflict refugees were those who could quickly flee the country; many of those showing up at the border now are people who have had to take buses or sometimes walk to the border, Johnson said. The faces of the many of the refugees he saw were “vacant,” he said. Many will need help for a long time.

“They've clearly seen the devil,” he said. “It's hard to recover. We have to make sure there's not a generation of people who never recover from this.”

The situation is “evolving, to say the least,” Johnson added, and donations made to the Ukrainian Relief Mission Charitable Corporation are being held while the details of how the organization will help are being worked out, so that the money can go directly to aid the refugees. Johnson plans to return to Poland in the next week or so to continue working on getting the approvals necessary to accomplish the nonprofit's goals.

“This has really impacted a lot of people in a way that's visceral,” he said.

Through April 15, proceeds from new subscriptions to The Cape Cod Chronicle will be donated to the Ukrainian Relief Mission Charitable Corporation. See our website or announcements elsewhere in this issue for details.

By: Tim Wood

Scenes of the devastation wrought by the Russian war against Ukraine, and the stream of refugees pouring over the border into Eastern Europe – which topped two million early this week – can't help but trigger sympathy. A number of local residents are finding ways to help, ranging from establishing a nonprofit and traveling to Poland to help refuges to reserving Ukrainian Airbnbs to send money directly to people in the war-torn country. Stayed tuned at the end of the story to find other ways to help.

Chatham Restaurateurs Form Nonprofit To Help Refugees  

With Ukrainian refugees pouring over the border into Poland, Tom Johnson, a Harwich homeowner and one of the owners of Pate's Restaurant in Chatham, worried that officials may be overwhelmed, and that some of those fleeing their homes might fall through the cracks and become prey to unscrupulous actors. After having run a boat building company in Poland and with many contacts there still, he decided he could make a difference. On Sunday night, he boarded a plane for the Polish capital.

“He knows Eastern Europe extremely well,” James Peterson, another of Pate's owners, said Monday.

In the previous weeks, Johnson, Peterson and others put together a nonprofit organization to collect donations to support housing, feeding and providing medical care for Ukrainian refugees in Poland. The Ukrainian Relief Mission Charitable Corporation incorporated March 3 and [is working on receiving] its federal 501(c)3 tax exempt designation shortly thereafter.

They've already collected a “substantial” amount of money from friends and other folks who heard about Johnson's efforts through word of mouth, said Peterson. A Facebook page and website, www.ukrainianmission.org, should be up and running this week to collect further donations.

Peterson said Johnson was concerned that human traffickers and Russian gangs could take advantage of the flood of refugees coming across the Polish border – which reports estimated at more than one million people – to separate mothers and children whose men have stayed behind to fight.

“As many people are we can save from that the better,” he said. Johnson will use his contacts in the country and was in touch with the Catholic Archdioceses of Boston to make contacts with Polish clergy.

The Polish government has done a “astounding job” at the border, Peterson said, but the numbers threatened to overwhelm resources. “They just can't do a tremendous job with every single family,” he said. Johnson's plan is to find transportation to hotels and other accommodations away from the border where refugees can be housed, fed and given medical attention, supported by donations to the Ukrainian Relief Mission.

Johnson is an “incredible organizer” who plans to stay in Poland for a week to 10 days to set up the relief mission, said Peterson, who also runs Peterson Realty in Harwich and is a lifelong Harwich resident.  

To contribute to the Ukrainian Relief Mission Charitable Corporation, send a check to Box 422, Harwich Port, MA, 02646.

Jewelry For A Good Cause

Along with millions worldwide, Chatham glass artist Vangie Collins has watched the crisis in Ukraine all unfold in real time on her TV. As an artist, she has turned to her art to try to express what she is feeling and to generate hope. In the process, she connected with dozens more friends and neighbors looking for a way to do the same thing.

"I started making blue and yellow glass beads," she said, referring to the colors of the Ukrainian flag. And she turned to Facebook to share what she was feeling and what she was doing. "I can't wrap my head around what's going on there, what they are going through," she said. "How do you lose everything?"

The first thing she made with the beads was a pair of earrings and she shared a photo to express her solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Almost immediately she got phone calls from friends who wanted to buy them, also searching for a way they could express their support.

But selling them didn't feel right to her. "I didn't want to profit in any way off such a terrible tragedy,” she said.

"Watching TV, I felt helpless, like there was nothing I could do about what I was seeing. We live wonderful lives here," she said. As she learned more about the war, she saw that World Central Kitchen (WCK), the non-profit founded by celebrity Chef Jose Andres, was rapidly getting to work, setting up kitchens to feed refugees from Ukraine at the Polish border. WCK had mobilized for the hurricane in Puerto Rico and the earthquake in Haiti, among other natural disasters.

"What is more important than feeding people, after riding on the train for so many hours?" Collins asked herself. The realization hit her. "We are not rich but I can do this and not get paid. That's what I can do."

Collins decided to sell the earrings and donate all the money to WCK, except the shipping cost and Massachusetts tax. Since then she has added more options including sunflower earrings (the national flower of Ukraine), a set of salad tongs, two kinds of pendants and soon lapel pins, all ranging in cost from $20 to $40.  As of Monday morning, she had raised over $1,500 for WCK, selling three to four dozen items.

Collins has no personal connection or Ukrainian background herself, but we all "do have connections we don't realize," she said, noting that customers have shared their family experiences with her. Her own family comes from Puerto Rico and she is well aware of the important work done by WCK to feed people after the recent hurricanes there.

Transparency is important to Collins. As she receives payment for the items, she forwards the money to WCK and posts the receipts on Facebook for all to see.

Her supplies are holding out pretty well. "Right now, I have a ton of yellow," she said. "I might run out of blue and need to buy more." As the orders come in and multiply, Collins so far is able to handle the rush. "I get up in the morning and go to my torch," she said, referring to the glass melting equipment she uses, adding she gets to bed around 1 a.m. Her husband asked her how long she can continue to do it. "I will go until people stop asking, until the war ends or 'til I drop."

"I can't watch and not do something," she said. From the orders coming in, she has a lot of company. More information is available at www.beadsbyvangie.com., on her Vangie Collins Facebook page or by email at vangie@vclampwork.com

Using Airbnb To Do Good

As a way to directly donate to people in Ukraine, some folks have booked Airbnb's in the country with no intention of staying. The hosts get the money immediately, with fees waived. Harwich resident Stefanie Murray saw a post about this on Facebook. She said she was horrified by what's going on in Ukraine and thought this would be a good way to help out.

“I found one that had several upcoming days available so I snagged them.” she wrote in an email. “I messaged the owner to say I wasn't actually coming but hope the money would be helpful. She, along with many others who have rooms/apartments to rent, are currently housing refugees, so every little bit helps.”

Benefit Labyrinth Walk

A guided musical labyrinth walk to benefit the Ukrainian people will be held at the Chatham Labyrinth at Chase Park on Sunday, March 13 at 2 p.m. Each walker will receive a sunflower, the national flower of Ukraine. A basket will be available for donations which will be sent to the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. All are welcome and parking is available at the parking lot off Shattuck Place. In case of rain, the walk will be cancelled.

Elizabeth Van Wye contributed to this report.