Letter: A time of giving

Published: 12-07-2023 3:56 PM

Christmas is a good time to think about this famous expression: “We all have our problems.” We can all complain about high rent, grocery bills, cold weather, long work hours, car breakdowns, and on and on. But imagine waking up to the sound of explosions and in one instant you lost electricity, heat, your car, half of your house, and the family members who were sleeping in that part of the house. We don’t hear about this on the news anymore but this is happening to somebody in Ukraine every single day; and has been happening every day for the last 630 days.

In New England we have two reputable Ukraine-focused 501c3 non-profits nearby, Dobro New England of Londonderry and Sunflower of Peace in Newton Mass. 501c3 qualifies donations as tax-deductible. Each is founded and run by Americans recently relocated here from Ukraine. They have sent non-lethal aid over the last two years in the form of food, medicine, tourniquets, winter clothes, baby food, first aid kits, generators, cook stoves, surgical equipment, schoolbooks, and more. Aid is distributed in Ukraine in most cases by friends or relatives of Dobro and Sunflower principals. While Ukrainians, with a country the size of Texas, continue to protect themselves and the rest of Europe from Vladimir Putin’s nuclear armed forces totaling 1.1 million active members and a budget of $86 billion/year (Wikipedia), we can help ease their suffering at least a little.

Russell Perkins

Concord

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