Donation Campaign
17.03.2022

APPEAL FOR DONATIONS: PROTECTIVE VESTS FOR UKRAINE

We bring protective vests to places where they save lives. However, we cannot manage this project alone - we need your support! 10% of the costs are covered by our association. For the rest we need you.

Dear partners and friends 
Dear people

The events in Ukraine are very distressing for all of us. 

As an organization, we want to contribute to support the people in Ukraine. 

The Ukrainian government has called on the population to join the armed resistance against the Russian invasion. Thousands have responded to this call. But they are not sufficiently equipped and many among them have never held a weapon.

These are ordinary people - like you, like us - who are very afraid. These civilian defence units lack many things. We know from our partner organizations in Ukraine and from our Ukrainian colleagues that there is a particularly urgent need for bulletproof vests. Manufacturers are currently reluctant to sell directly to Ukraine. That is why we are needed. All of us.
We have already pre-ordered vests worth 10,000 EUR. However, we cannot manage this project alone - we need your support! 10% of the costs will be covered by our association. For the rest we need you. 

It's simple: We bring vests to the places where they save lives, you help, and the first delivery is just the beginning. 
You can find all the background information below.

We look forward to your support.

Kateryna Pavlova, Florian Dunkel and Andreas Muckenfuß 
Together with our whole team in Berlin and our partners in Ukraine.

DONATION ACCOUNT

IBAN: DE25 1203 0000 1005 3662 71
BIC: BYLADEM1001
PayPal: muckenfuss@crisp-berlin.org

Reason for Payment: „Schutzwesten“

All donors (from 100€) will receive a donation receipt. Please add the following to the purpose: "Schutzwesten" + "Your name" + "Your address" + "Your email address". 

WHO WE ARE

CRISP is a non-profit association (Berlin) that has been involved in civil conflict transformation in Ukraine since 2013. Four of our current staff* are from Ukraine. We are closely connected with the Voluntary Aid Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "ANGAR", which was established thanks to the joint efforts of Volyn Regional Charitable Foundation "Commonwealth-Volyn" (Director Olga Valyanik) and NGO "Creative Association "Garmyder"(Director Ruslana Porytska).

OUR PLAN

Through intensive efforts we have found a way to buy directly from the manufacturer in the UK. We have pre-ordered bulletproof vests worth 10.000 EUR.
These will be delivered to our Berlin address. From here they are transported by private van to the Polish-Ukrainian border. In the Polish border town of Hrubieszów we hand over protective vests to members of our partner organization "SPIVDRUZHNIST-VOLYN". They will take care of further transport to Luzk, from where they will be distributed further east.

There were no problems during the test run on 13.03.2022.

POLITICAL MOTIVATION

We cannot imagine a better form of government than a functioning democracy, even if it involves strenuous social negotiation processes and can lead to suboptimal compromise solutions.

The people of Ukraine have fought for their democracy (Euromaidan 2013/14) and continued to work for it. There are free and fair elections, non-violent transfers of power, a free press and, above all, an increasingly active civil society. During our work on the ground, we were repeatedly impressed by how "Ukrainian democracy" developed bit by bit and how much people identify with it.

Now Ukraine is being punished for its democratic development. By a war of aggression in violation of international law, which has as its declared goal the removal of the freely and democratically elected Ukrainian government.

But this is not just about Ukraine. For us, and probably for you as well, this is about the big question of which societies we want to live in. In our immediate neighbourhood, an emerging democracy is about to be wiped out. We cannot simply stand by and watch. It is up to ALL of us to do something now.

It is clear to us that with an appeal for donations to finance military equipment - even if it is of a purely defensive nature - we are moving into unfamiliar and for many, including us, uncomfortable territory. Why not invest the same money in a humanitarian aid convoy to Mariupol, where unimaginable misery reigns? Why not 20 tons of rice instead of 20 protective vests? This is alien to the German donation culture, and it is also an unprecedented year.

We don't make it lightly, but we believe that our special connections in Ukraine put us in a unique position - a position that allows us to help in a way that other organizations cannot.

So, our appeal is not intended as a counter-model, but as a complement to the absolutely indispensable humanitarian aid that other organizations and private citizen are putting in place.

As far as we know, the civil defence forces in Ukraine have hardly any other possibilities to get the urgently needed equipment, they are defenceless against the Russian fire.

We as an association can make a real difference here.

And we very much hope you can take this step with us.