Help Ukrainian Families Stay Warm

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Global disaster relief organization ShelterBox USA has launched a new rapid response program in Ukraine to help families struggling to keep warm this holiday season as temperatures drop below zero degrees.  

The program comes after ShelterBox’s global team returned from an aid deployment earlier this month into Ukraine, where they saw rapidly deteriorating conditions for families as frequent attacks target key electricity, water, and other infrastructure, leaving millions without heat and power in dangerously cold temperatures.  

“The war in Ukraine continues to have devastating – and more widespread – impacts on families,” said ShelterBox USA President Kerri Murray. “Vulnerable families are enduring a second emergency this holiday season, as thousands of families are struggling to keep the cold out of severely damaged homes. The situation is dire on the ground, and ShelterBox is expanding our work to help people stay warm, and we hope supporters will help us. There is little doubt that people could lose their lives this winter and ShelterBox’s aid can be life-saving.” 

ShelterBox’s effort is the latest in a series of programs in Ukraine since fighting broke out in February. One sought to provide 12,000 mattresses to collective centers like churches and schools where families fled. Another sent tools, solar lights, tarpaulins and other essential items to 6,000 families in central Ukraine. A third provided 4,000 families who left the country through Moldova with cash to buy food and medical supplies, and another 15,000 with hygiene kits.  

Taken together, the programs met the shelter and household needs of about 31,000 families.  

ShelterBox’s new programs provide materials to help seal windows and doors, as well as repair roofs. The latest aid package will also include warm clothes, blankets, and sleeping bags. And it will provide 1,000 of the most vulnerable families with stoves and wood.  

Founded in 2000, ShelterBox provides a variety of shelter and essential items after disasters or in conflict areas. It responds urgently to earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, tsunamis, and conflicts, customizing its aid items by working with local communities and assessing the greatest needs. In 2018 and 2019, ShelterBox was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for its work in conflict areas. 

This year was one of the busiest in the nonprofit’s history. It has helped hundreds of thousands of people with emergency shelter and other household items. In addition to Ukraine, it is responding to catastrophic flooding in Pakistan and historic drought in Eastern Africa. These crises underscore the climate change driven impacts that ShelterBox sees on the front lines of all its responses. It also has ongoing programs in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Philippines, Ukraine, Yemen, and Syria.  

A busy 2022 has depleted ShelterBox’s warehouses around the globe where it prepositions aid to respond quickly and efficiently after a disaster. It has launched a year end campaign to replenish its stock of life-saving gear. Those looking to support families around the world can purchase aid items ShelterBox will use following disasters or in conflict zones. To learn more, please visit www.ShelterBoxUSA.org/winter