The recent events in Ukraine have been horrific. In just one week over 600,000 refugees have fled Ukraine, with that number potentially rising to 5 million over the coming weeks. These refugees were forced to leave their homes, jobs, family and friends behind, only taking their most important possessions, to then wait in multi-day long lines in freezing temperatures to escape Ukraine. Simultaneously hospitals in Ukraine are running dangerously low on medical supplies such as oxygen, yet continue to take care of the public and injured soldiers.
At Hinsdale Central, a fundraising effort is being started by Nikolai Rhodes, someone who has relatives stuck amid the war in Ukraine. This isn’t an isolated incident in our community, as the Chicagoland area has a large Ukrainian population. Over the past week many fake online fund-raisers have taken advantage of the generosity of people; therefore, we the students of Hinsdale Central believe it is important to offer real donation services that will give resources to refugees, hospitals and generally to the people of Ukraine. On behalf of the group of students at Hinsdale Central involved in the fundraising effort, we recommend donating to the International Committee of the Red Cross Ukraine Crisis site and the care.org Ukraine Crisis Fund, organizations that will give medical supplies to Ukrainian hospitals and assist those who have been displaced either internally or as refugees. Please donate to the people of Ukraine and support Ukrainian businesses. — John Hines-Shah on behalf of students at Hinsdale Central