Ukraine

This is the message I woke up to from one of my friend’s this morning. It’s translated from Ukrainian, and I’m leaving it mostly in it’s rough, translated form, some of which I don’t understand. She was at every camp I went to for almost ten years. I met her as a little girl and last saw her when she was engaged. Katy and I were invited to her wedding. She’s in Western Ukraine with her children and husband after having fled Kyiv, so receiving this knowing where she is and that it’s not covered in the news is really scary.

“Yesterday was hell on earth, it was the worst day of all five. They fired, bombed, and blew up from 8 a.m. to about 9:30 p.m. Constant fighting all day right in the center, near us they shot nearby, on the neighboring streets too, everything in the center was destroyed, when ours repulsed those tanks and there were only two left, those Russians started shooting in the evening streets, apartments…. It was scary, very scary. One of my acquaintances got into the apartment, the other house was partially blown up, the wounded were more, they were brought here to the hospital all the time, I have them right in front of the window. All day in tears, in the evening my heart ached, but I fell asleep as soon as I lay down on the pillow.”

Some of you have asked if you can help practically or if there’s a reliable way to send money. Thank you. Katy and I will be sending money to my friends who I’ve been messaging, and we invite you to join us. We want them to know the people of New England are standing with them. Our goal is $6,000-$12,000. It will be going to six families who I know, trust, and who regularly dedicate their time to helping others. Thanks to Paypal, we can get the money to them (we’ve debated when to send it, if they can get to a bank etc, but decided sooner was better than later). We already banded together with a small group of friends to send money that way to one of my Ukrainian friends whose family was crossing the Polish border.

These are my friends:

**One is with his parents in Kyiv hearing explosions and unable to get to a shelter because his mother is unable to walk.

**One is sheltering in a basement with her kids while her husband goes on patrols on the outskirts of Kyiv.

**One is in Western Ukraine with his wife and daughter while his wife’s parents are in Kyiv.

**One I wrote about yesterday whose apartment windows and doors were blown off in Chernihiv.

**Another is sheltering in Chernihiv with her mom and is without power.

**One wrote the message above and is in Western Ukraine with her husband and three children.

We’re not a non-profit. We are a friend helping friends. The $6,000-$12,000 will be split evenly among these six families. You can give through our Venmo and PayPal below, and we will get it to them. If you don’t know us and would prefer a non-profit, just send us a message.

Before we did Joy Lane Farm full time, I was a waiter at The FARM Bar & Grille, Dover NH. Yesterday, the manager, Kaylah, messaged me to let me know they had poured the Russian vodka down the drains and would be replacing it with Ukrainian. Thank you, Kaylah and Noah. These acts of kindness and solidarity mean the world.

Thank you, all, for loving us and helping our friends.

Joel and Katy