When the invasion of Ukraine started in February, we thought we would never be able to send supplies to an Ostomy group in Kyiv.
But fortunately, we were informed that a Canadian/Ukrainian shipping company was offering to send humanitarian aid at a reduced cost to Ukraine.
They delivered our two pallets from Warsaw by truck transport to Lviv, but cautioned us that they might not get our supplies to our destination in Kviv due to safety reasons. The alternative would be to distribute the supplies to hospitals in Lviv.
The shipping company in Lviv works with a charity that has volunteers to deliver humanitarian aid. In Lviv they were in touch with our contact in Kyiv (our paperwork had all the contact information required) and arranged for delivery.
It was serendipitous that the volunteer who delivered our shipment from Lviv to Kyiv about 500 kilometres (again by truck transport) was from Canada.
He was gracious enough to call me from Ukraine, through our MagicJack number, to let us know he had completed the delivery successfully to our intended destination and was met by tears from our contact in Ukraine. He also explained that hundreds of volunteers have gone to Ukraine and are working to deliver humanitarian aid.
We then got an email from our contact confirming our shipment made it to its destination.
Humanitarian aid sent by a Canadian Charity delivered by a Canadian volunteer!
Lorne