Atlanta woman's non-profit provides humanitarian aid to people in Ukraine
ATLANTA - A Ukrainian woman living in Atlanta has created a non-profit that's providing rapid aid to people in Ukraine.
Vlada Galan was born in Ukraine and moved to the U.S. when she was 8 years old.
She works as a political consultant and travels from Atlanta to Ukraine every month for work.
On Feb. 15, she boarded a flight from Ukraine to Turkey, unsure of what was to come.
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"It was already evident that something was brewing. I just don't think anybody expected what took place. I left the country on February 15."
A little more than a week later, Russia invaded Ukraine.
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"My first instinct was to put on a bulletproof vest, get an automatic weapon, fly to Ukraine and fight in the motherland," Galan said.
Galan decided to create a non-profit, the International Ukrainian Crisis Fund, with the goal of providing rapid humanitarian aid to people in Ukraine.
She drew on her professional connections to help launch the fund.
"One of my clients is the Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko. I'm familiar with both brothers, Wladimir and Vitali. I immediately asked Wladimir to be on the board of the fund. Wladimir is actually known in Atlanta. He won the gold in the Olympics in 96," Galan said.
Galan said the organization has volunteers throughout Ukraine who are transporting medical supplies from nearby countries to hospitals in Ukraine..
People are also working to distribute food and necessities to people.
"We launched a hotline where people can call in and the most vulnerable, who cannot leave their homes. We've teamed up with IPost UA which is a courier service that is delivering individual food packages to those places." she said.
The fund is also relocating women and children to neighboring countries.
Many of Galan's family members are in Ukraine, including her father who stayed to right the Russians.
"My father stayed and I talked to him just yesterday. He said what else choice do I have? If I don't stay here to defend it, if we men don't stay here to defend our country, who will defend us?"
While she can't be there physically Galan said she's thankful to those who've supported the fund and are allowing her to help in this way.
"We forget this is one of the largest crises of refugee displacement since World War II. It's really happening in real time, and we're here to help," Galan said.
You can find more information on how do donate by visiting the International Ukrainian Crisis Fund's website.