Standing With Ukraine

Prior Lake Rotary’s Rotary Foundation Committee creates awareness and raises funds for supporting the Rotary International’s fundraising arm The Rotary Foundation or TRF.
In response to the ongoing war and strife in Ukraine, the Prior Lake Rotary’s Foundation Committee, along with the International committee, approved a $12,500 contribution to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. The International Committee met in April to discuss different ways we could provide support. Following significant research and discussion within the committee, three potential options were selected.   
· Alight is a non-governmental organization and trusted partner that is an expert in all refugee-related activities, and they have a specific set of solutions they are providing to meet the needs of people, so we know the general area of support our funds are going towards. Specifically, they are providing support to refugees as they cross the border into Poland as well as displaced people within Ukraine.
·The committee found local Rotary Clubs on the ground doing great things and felt these efforts would be very transparent and tangible as to what our contributions are doing. And because this is hyper localized, it would make an extreme impact for people in those communities. And the potential for ongoing relationships with those clubs could come out of these donations.
It was decided that the funds would be split between Alight and Local Rotary Clubs. The two Clubs identified were, the Rotary Club of Lviv International and the Rotary Club of Kyiv.  For the Rotary Club of Lviv International, they are doing amazing things supporting displaced people that have fled their homes and settled in Lviv. For the Rotary Club of Kyiv, they have been helping both people that have been directly impacted by the war in Kyiv, and for those that are now arriving from other areas. Recently members of the Clubs were hosted via Zoom to talk about this and to give insight into what they are and have been experiencing. Click the link to hear more.  https://youtu.be/gYrlwpcaPUY
In total, Prior Lake Rotary approved contributions of $12,500 to Alight ($4,000), the Rotary Club of Lviv International ($4,250), and the Rotary Club of Kyiv ($4,250), to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. In addition, Prior Lake Rotarian Rick Olson, recently traveled to Western Europe, including Poland, and collected $1,060 to bring to the Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw, and also a suitcase full of kids' clothing.