Everything from medicine and military clothing to drones and binoculars are being collected in Red Deer to help equip Ukraine’s soldiers fighting the Russian invasion.
“We as citizens of Red Deer have organized a plan to assist our fellow Ukrainians abroad with humanitarian aid and supplies that are needed at the present time in Ukraine,” said organizer Alex Ivanenko in a release on Monday.
“This aid will help civilians and military men and women who are defending the country of Ukraine. They are in dire need of medical supplies and military surplus to continue fighting back against the Russian onslaught.”
Donations, including cash, are being collected at Red Deer’s St. Nicholas Ukrainian Orthodox Church at 107 Vermont Ave. The church will be open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and volunteers will accept donations. Outside those hours, donations can be taken to the Central Alberta Immigrant Women’s Association at 4910 45th St. in Red Deer.
Donations will be packaged and sent to Edmonton by volunteers. A company called Meest is transporting donations to Toronto and then on to Warsaw, Poland, where they will be gathered and then sent to Lviv in western Ukraine.
A $2-per-kilogram charge will cover transportation costs to Toronto. The rest of the route will be free.
A list of needed items includes medicines, such as: Tylenol, ibuprofen, aspirin, fast dissolved Imodium, Gravol, Benadryl, Ginger Gravol. All these items are also needed in children’s and infant doses.
Other medical supplies wanted include: large gauze, large absorbent pads, non-adhesive, medical tape, any medical first aid supplies, including large size battlefield-style dressings, burn kits with large medical gel pads, Polysporin; large antiseptic wipes in big boxes, iodine, splints and neck braces and especially tourniquets.
Water purification tablets are requested along with a Life Straw water filtration device, which can provide 4,000 litres of drinking water from any source.
As well, military clothing, including camouflaged, thermal clothing, military/hunting boots (especially sizes 11-13), military and winter hats, mechanic and tactical gloves, black tactical or hunting vests, headlamps with new batteries, military backpacks, dark-coloured knee pads, ballistic safety glasses and camouflage balaclavas, fabric, nets or Ghillie suits (used by snipers) are also on the list.
New rolls of duct tape in blue, yellow, orange or white will be taken. (No red)
Ukrainian forces would also welcome drones with video capability, commercial-grade handheld two-way radios, night-vision goggles and scopes, range finders and binoculars.