Toos Day - A Scout is Helpful - A Message from Ukraine

I am sure that you all know, but on February 24, 2022, Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. I know that there is an active Scouting movement in Ukraine. I reached out to their organization to find out what we as Scouts could do, and what they wanted us as part of the Movement to know. It took a few days, but I got the following response.

Courtesy https://liveuamap.com/

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Scouting in the United States, greetings from the National Organizations of Scouts of Ukraine. We wish to thank Scouts of the USA for their support. We see the public meetings of thousand of people you take part in, we see your attempts to reach out to your government, politicians, all your connections in power in your country. 

This gives us hope and encouragement. Your messages and actions help us to keep people’s spirits high and hold on for a little longer. Scouts of NOSU carry out various important actions to support the citizens of Ukraine, both the civilian population and the territorial defense, also Armed forces of Ukraine, the Red Cross. Our members provide people in shelters with food, clothing, means of heating and support services. 

We do our best to save people’s lives and stop the war. We believe that together we can make a difference! NOSU asks you to raise awareness of our situation and impact those who do not want to end the war. 

There are many National Scout organizations from the whole of Europe and world, who have been supporting us since the first day of a full-scale war, and we are extremely grateful to all of you. Your support and concern means a lot! Every Ukrainian Scout feels now more than ever that they are part of a big world Scout family!“

Thank you, Adam.

Best regards, 

Olha.

Olha Dybkaliuk 

International Commissioner
National Organization of Scouts of Ukraine

Olha also asked me to share the following from the National Organization of Scouting Ukraine. 

Dear friends in Scouting and Guiding,

We at the National Organization of Scouts of Ukraine (NOSU) prepared this document to reply to so many messages of support that all of us receive literally every second. It is unfortunately not possible to reply to all of you with our own words, as the situation is unstable, we often are asked to move to shelters where there is no internet, some of us stay in shelters all the time.

First of all, we all are sincerely grateful for your concern. The support of the international community is crucial for the security of our people at this time. Thank you for your kind words and all the help you are willing to provide!

The National Board of NOSU is in touch to the best extent possible with all our Scout groups, our leaders, and young people. We are facilitating communication with neighboring countries Scouts, who are helping those Ukrainian Scout families, who decided to move abroad. 

Here is what you and your NSO can do to help us in this difficult situation:

1. With the help of WOSM, we launched a Scout Donation Platform campaign to raise funds for humanitarian help which will be needed as soon as the situation calms down. 

Here is the link to donate if you feel like it: https://bit.ly/scoutsukraine

Official WOSM communication can be found here: 

https://www.facebook.com/WOSM.OMMS/photos/a.10150253538916914/10158660391706914

2. Another option to send help directly to Ukraine is to donate to the Ukrainian Red Cross. Here is the official page for donations: 

https://donate.redcrossredcrescent.org/ua/donate/~my-donation?_cv=1&ns_ira_cr_arg=IyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMz1M9LG%2FD%2F3HOPsyNe7G4hi7MNiOcJZVcQbKQH4abHlwIfprXbhWe4hNVAr9YwTD7Y7djc7%2BaNom9Weak4QzSBlI2zC%2Bd0%2FZzrMQ0GyxuqCctMN3%2BlIj4Giciwt0Pv2X0%3D

You can also donate directly at their website using the button "Donate": https://redcross.org.ua/donate/?fbclid=IwAR0SDpzXLIy8jJ3l3jisdP8mJYz4LSeRucKGEddLvhUslrGFKvCQ4H59zTU

3. [NEW]  Kyiv School of Economics charity foundation started fundraising campaign for humanitarian aid and other needs of Territorial Defense Units of different Ukrainian cities, their goal is to raise 2.5 million USD. You can help at this link:  https://kse.ua/donation/   You can learn more here: https://kse.ua/

4. A non-financial thing you can do is to reach out to your government, politicians, all your connections in power in your country in any way possible to raise awareness of our situation and ask for stronger measures to be taken. We think that more sanctions need to be imposed by them to support Ukraine. 

5. We are in close contact with the NSO leadership in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania and they all are very helpful in terms of welcoming our Scouts in their countries. If you have any other suggestions of help and support, please feel free to send any useful information to NOSU's official email address: international@ukrscout.org

Finally, we might not be very quick in replying, but please be sure that every message and every email is read. We will come back to everyone in due course, we just prioritize answering strategic messages over answering messages with words of support. But all of them are equally important to us.

NOSU National Board is following the latest developments and stays alert for all our members. We stay strong and pray for the best. Please join us in our prayers too.

Thank you very much again! Your support and concern mean a lot! Every Ukrainian Scout feels now more than ever that they are part of a big world Scout family!

NOSU National Board

Today for Toos Day, I ask you to share these messages, and please keep these brothers and sisters in your thoughts and prayers. These young men and women did not ask for any of this. They did nothing to bring upon this suffering. If you can help with materials, or monetary help, do so, but a Scout is Helpful - and #4 is something that we can encourage our scouts to do.

May our fellow Scouts find peace soon, and only know peace moving forward.

YIS,

Adam