UPDATE MAY 3, 2022. Announcing the successful conclusion of our fundraiser for Ukraine, which ran in March and April 2022. We were happy to coincide the fundraiser with our biggest sale of the year, the "AS-IS / Dents & Dings" Sale, which produced a lot of generous "tips for Ukraine." We just issued our second donation to Voices of Children in the amount of $113.01 (‚¬107.29), which brings our total donation to $1,171.74 (‚¬1,026.81) to help families in Ukraine cope with the psychology of war.
Read on for a full report on our fundraiser, learn more about this important organization, and other ways you can help Ukrainians.
UPDATE APRIL 4, 2022. We are thrilled to announce that we sold out of leather sunflowers in the first 48 hours (!) and have already issued a first donation of $1,058.73 USD (‚¬919.52 EUR), well exceeding our initial goal of $500. We are in awe and appreciation of the generosity and swift response of our community. We will continue to accept donations through the order checkout page as "tips" or donations throughout the month of April (not available with ShopPay, please select the standard checkout option to donate). More details about the donation under Transparency.
MARCH 22, 2022.The war in Ukraine has captured our hearts and our attention. What we have heard from President Zelenskyy and from everyday Ukrainians, is to please, keep talking about it, send what you can, do whatever you can.
We want to help. In this post we will:
- Report on the conclusion of our successful fundraiser with a spirit of transparency in giving. Jump to donation report.
- Announce a small fundraiser we created with 100% of gross proceeds going to Ukraine. You and I will both donate to the Ukrainian people, and you can get a handcrafted leather sunflower keepsake to commemorate your donation. Jump to fundraiser announcement.
- Share a list of trusted organizations for donations to Ukraine. Jump to trusted organizations list.
- Show how to directly support Ukrainian entrepreneurs, crafters, and artists. Jump to direct support section.
Donation Report
MAY DONATION REPORT
On May 3, 2022 we submitted our final donation to Voices of Children, of $100 (‚¬94.94), which represents the donations accumulated through voluntary "tip" for Ukraine in our shopping cart checkout screen throughout the month of April. We also donated the cost of processing fees ourselves for a May donation of $113.01 (‚¬107.29), which brings our total fundraiser donations to $1,171.74 (‚¬1,026.81) -- well exceeding our initial goal of $500! Screenshot below.
APRIL DONATION UPDATE
On April 4, 2022 we submitted our first donation to Voices of Children, of $1000 (‚¬905.38), which represents the donations accumulated through the sales of Ukraine leather sunflowers. We also donated the cost of processing fees ourselves for a first total donation of $1,058.73 (‚¬919.52). Screenshot below.
RESPONSE FROM VOICES OF CHILDREN UKRAINE
We were honored to receive responses of gratitude from Voices of Children and reports on their work in the field, which we're sharing with you here. Voices of Children commented on our Instagram posts and sent us a donor report in mid-April -- which you can read here.
Charities and Funds to Help Ukrainians
There's more than one way to support the people of Ukraine, both inside the country and refugees leaving the country. Whether it's military support, humanitarian, or more specific causes, there are reputable organizations of all kinds so you can help in accordance with your values.
We compiled a list of organizations below, but you may also appreciate this list of ways to support Ukraine created by Ukrainian technology company Readdle, who created the phone document scanning app we use called ScannerPro.
- World Central Kitchen, started by Chef Jose Andres, is always the first on the scene to feed people affected by disasters. As of this writing, they have already fed over 1,000,000 meals to families across Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Moldova, and Hungary.
- MercyCorps, a Portland, Oregon-based international humanitarian aid organization is on the ground in Ukraine, Romania, and Poland, providing funding to local organizations and working to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs in the region, including emergency cash assistance.
- The National Bank of Ukraine has opened funds to directly support Ukraine's Armed Forces for military assistance and the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine for humanitarian assistance.
- The Come Back Alive Foundation is a Ukraine-based charity that supports the Ukrainian military with equipment supplies and repairs, military and officer training, and curbing the flow of propaganda and disinformation.
- Voices of Children is a Ukraine-based charity addressing the psychological effect of armed conflict on children with art therapy, mobile psychologists, and individualized support to traumatized children.
- CARE's Ukraine Crisis Fund was set up with the goal of providing immediate support for 4 million people. Donations will go toward providing Ukrainians with water, food, supplies, hygiene kits, immediate support and aid, and cash -- prioritizing women, girls, families, and elderly.
- International Medical Corps is a nonprofit focused on providing health-care services, psychosocial support, and care to citizens of countries dealing with disaster, disease, and conflict.
- For more charities, particularly ones located in Ukraine, check this post from r/ukraine:
Direct Support for Ukrainian Crafters, Businesses, and Freelancers
In a letter shared with a US alumni group, a Ukrainian businessman shared his thoughts on how Americans can help Ukraine. One way, he said, in addition to writing your representatives to express support for Ukraine aid, is to buy Ukrainian.
Like many of us, many Ukrainians work online, which makes it easy to send our business and funds directly to them. Once there, Ukrainian entrepreneurs and crafters are using the funds in their local communities (like this Redditor who shared the proceeds with a local perinatal clinic). This is distributing the support at all levels of the economy.
As the world has already seen, the Ukrainians are brave and clever craftspeople, whether it's a beer brewer waxing poetic about their "handcrafted Molotov cocktails" or the creative expressions of resistance in the face of enormous odds.
Major marketplaces like Etsy and Upwork have waived all fees and commissions to Ukrainian members as an in-kind donation. In Ukraine, these members have set up straight donation listings in addition to products for shipping and digital downloads for sale.
- Shop crafts and digital downloads from Ukrainian crafters on Etsy. The word is that packages are still arriving from Ukraine regularly, but digital downloads are the easiest way to support Ukrainian crafters without worrying about shipping. Etsy curated a list of beautiful digital designs from Ukraine, but there are many other options (TIP: filter the search by Location / Ukraine to avoid opportunists and scammers):
- Craft patterns (sewing / embroidery / knitting / cross stitch / jewelry / calligraphy etc)
- Photography
- Digital art, including Ukrainian children's drawings (like the ones shown in this blog post)
- Graphic design and illustrations
- Digital designs / assets, such as planners, calendars, graphics, document templates
- ...and Ukrainian family food recipes!
- Donate or purchase directly from Upwork freelancers in Ukraine through their Project Catalog.
- Keep your eyes open for fundraisers in your communities and professional circles, such as the one below from the graphic design community. This conflict has touched the hearts of so many.
Our Small Fundraiser for Ukraine
Through March and April, we will be running a fundraiser for Ukraine on our website, in two ways: order "tips" for Ukraine and the sale of a special limited edition keepsake we made specially for Ukraine. All funds will go directly to the charity Voices of Children, a Ukraine-based charity providing evacuation assistance, art therapy, psychological and psychosocial support to children and families affected by the war in Ukraine. We practice transparency in giving: donations will be demonstrated and updated on this blog post and in our social media and newsletter.
Transparency in Giving
We will run our fundraiser similar to the way we ran the No Kid Hungry fundraiser, in a spirit of openness and transparency. The fundraiser will run through March and April and we have a modest-but-achievable fundraising goal of $500 to help Voices of Children. (Let's hope we exceed that goal!)
Follow along here on this blog post and on our social media and email newsletters as we try to reach our goal. We plan to submit donations monthly, around April 1 and May 1, and will provide a report on donations in these updates.
Shopping Cart Tips for Ukraine
ENDED!In our shopping cart, you will now see an option during checkout on the payment page to add a "tip" for Ukraine. Round up your order to the next dollar, donate a percentage of your order, or contribute any amount you like. 100% of your donation (we'll donate the payment processing fees) will go to Voices of Children.
Limited Leather Sunflower For Ukraine
SOLD OUT!We designed a small, wearable leather keepsake honoring the spirit of Ukraine. The keepsake, inspired by the Ukrainian sunflower, is colorful and beautiful. It has a hanging loop and can be used as a pin/brooch with a safety pin, Christmas ornament, or window decor, all while raising money to help children who are suffering during the war in Ukraine.
Each leather sunflower is made out of light blue, yellow, and/or white garment leather from our workshop inventory. Garment leather (shoe leather) is unlike our usual vegetable-tanned leather, so this is an unusual piece for Walnut Studiolo.
Dimensions: The sunflower measures approximately 3.75" (95mm) across and 0.75" (19mm) high.
Limited Quantity: We only have a little bit of this leather available, enough to make less than a dozen sunflowers, so please be generous and swift in your support.
100% of gross proceeds from the sale of this flower will go to Voices of Children. We're donating our time, services, shipping capabilities, and materials to make and ship these. That means every $1 spent on the flower is $1 donated to Voices of Children.
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