Air raid alerts sounded across Ukraine last week as Russian missile attacks landed on an apartment building in Dnipro, killing 12, while explosions were heard in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv, hitting critical infrastructure. Damage from the blasts will mean emergency power cuts for many regions — but our team at the Tulcea Hub has been quick to rally resources and bring a bit of hope!

While rescue efforts are still underway in Dnipro, the Hub is preparing a ‘second wave’ of supplies for the city, such as sleeping bags, blankets, food, medicine, and medical supplies — supporting those displaced from their homes and recovering from tragedy. W

Donating partners, Insulin for Life USA, continue to send critical shipments of insulin, supporting over-stretched hospitals throughout Ukraine. Many would be suffering without these necessary vials and their consistent delivery to teams like those at a Mykolaiv hospital (right). Much of this ongoing effort is made possible through your support, along with our diligent Tulcea Hub team, currently led by Co-Director of Warehousing Glen Kinney (standing, below)

On January 31st and February 1st, the Weatherman Foundation will be hosting joint events with U.S. Institute for Peace and Women In International Security as part of our Women, Peace and Security Programming. These events are part of a week-long visit to high-level officials in Washington DC, spotlighting women we have worked with extensively over the past 10 months, the important leadership roles they have stepped into during the war, and their critical support of democracy — now and in future post-war recovery.

Keep your eyes open for online watch links for both events, coming in the next couple weeks.

One of the values we hold as the Weatherman Foundation is supporting our local partners’ leadership - through skills trainings, education, and economic empowerment.

This past week, Co-Director of Warehousing, Glen, implemented a train-the-trainer program for 2 of our Ukrainian staff leads at the Tulcea Hub. They quickly translated it into a full staff training (in Ukrainian) on safe operation of forklifts in the warehouse (right), ensuring everyone is up to date on how to use, maintain and operate the vehicles safely (below).

Trainings like these allow for operational longevity and a sense of ownership from our friends and partners, ensuring the Hub can continue making an impact as long as it’s needed.

Starting in late December 2022, the Spanish government began donating truckloads of Oatly Oatmilk. We’ve been able to send various loads of the shelf-stable oatmilk and other supplies to locations in desperate need of basic supplies such as Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Odessa and Kharkiv (below). Thanks for local NGOs such as Odesa in the Heart, Dynamo, Pokrov and many others, the milk is being delivered to shelters and distribution points for those in hard-hit areas. As long as the trucks roll in with supplies, we will continue to send them on to those who need it most!

Our donating partners from Germany continue to send high-power generators for hospitals, critical government buildings and shelters throughout Ukraine. These generators (pictured below) were delivered in the first days of 2023 to recovery parts of Kharkiv, Kherson and Mykolaiv.

A new French donating partner, SOS Attitude came through with 2 large trucks of winter donations last week. The trucks included hundreds of sleeping bags and generators — one of our most requested items as power outages plague conflict-affected areas — and have already gone out for delivery to Ukraine’s most recently devastated city, Dnipro.