U.S. non-profit sends disaster relief team to Poland to help evacuate Ukrainian children

MATTAPOISETT, Mass., March 10, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- All Hands and Hearts (AHAH), a Massachusetts-based non-profit organization helping people and communities impacted by disasters, successfully coordinated the evacuation of unaccompanied children from Ukraine on Saturday after members of its disaster response team arrived in Poland on Friday.

Upon their arrival and in full collaboration with official authorities, AHAH began coordinating evacuations of vulnerable children and families from Ukraine to safe locations in Poland.

On Saturday, the AHAH team loaded busses and personal vehicles with humanitarian aid and medical supplies that were transported from Poland to a neutral zone on the Ukrainian border. Supplies were then handed over to Ukrainian partners, who drove the supplies to locations of the greatest need. Once supplies were unloaded, the vehicles were then used to transport unaccompanied minors and vulnerable children back to Poland where they were placed in the care of vetted officials trained to properly care for traumatized children.

The team in Poland is made up of Gary Pitts, chief operations officer at AHAH, Kasia Ozga, volunteer engagement manager for AHAH, and Eric Gebaide, a member of AHAH's board of directors.

"While we traditionally focus on natural disasters, the truth of the matter is that we had an opportunity to help people, leveraging our unique skills and experience," said Perry Maddox, chief executive officer at AHAH. "As with the rest of the world, we have watched with horror as more than half a million people have been displaced from their homes in Ukraine, including vulnerable families and children without guardians. We believe that because we have the power to do something about it, therefore, we have the responsibility to do so."

AHAH is currently planning to facilitate additional evacuations in the coming days with the hopes of enabling several thousand children and families in Ukraine to reach safety

Established in 2017, AHAH has impacted the lives of more than 1.2M people and mobilized over 63,000 volunteers to approximately 100 sites across the globe to help rebuild communities affected by catastrophic natural disasters, including wildfires in Butte County, California, hurricanes in Louisiana and Guatemala, tornadoes in Kentucky, earthquakes in Peru and Mexico, tsunamis in Japan and more.

Originally formed as All Hands Volunteers in 2005, AHAH combined forces with Happy Hearts Fund in Nepal in 2015 to rebuild disaster-resilient schools in the wake of the devastating earthquake. Recognizing the synergy between the two organizations, in fall of 2017, they announced a merger, officially forming All Hands and Hearts.

Those looking to donate, support, or learn more about AHAH are encouraged to visit http://www.AllHandsAndHearts.org or within Europe our partner Happy Hearts Fund Czech at HappyHeartsCzech.org

About All Hands and Hearts:
Formed in 2017, All Hands and Hearts is a 501(c)3 that effectively and efficiently addresses the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters. We communicate directly with local leaders and community members and then deploy our unique model of engaging volunteers to enable direct impact, helping to build safer, more resilient schools, homes and infrastructure.

Media Contact

Justin Clements, Judge PR, 8126210631, [email protected]

SOURCE All Hands and Hearts