When we think of weapons of war we usually focus on weapons designed to cause death or destruction or both, such as bombs, grenades, artillery and the like. We are seeing these things used to devastating effect in Ukraine as a result of Vladimir Putin’s brutal and unprovoked war on Ukraine.
At part of our Rotary meeting on March 14, we discussed the opportunity to turn something as mundane as a 10 passenger van into a weapon of mercy and humanity. We have started to accept donations to provide a 10 passenger van to an organization working tirelessly to ease the plight being suffered by hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, mostly women and children, fleeing the carnage that Putin has inflicted on their homeland. Many of these refugees have walked miles in bitter cold carrying what few possessions they could manage to carry. In many cases they are also carrying infants. A van would help immeasurably in helping these distressed people as they try to navigate this horrific situation.
Dave DeBois, the branch manager of Banner Bank in Kirkland, and the current president of the Kirkland Rotary, is accepting donations to an account established at Banner Bank in Kirkland to collect the funds necessary to make this purchase. Please consider making a donation to Vital Solutions or through our club's website. It will make an extremely difficult situation at least a bit more tolerable. [Editor's Note: Donations to assist in this crisis can be made at Banner Bank in Kirkland, through Vital Solutions, a Kirkland-based non-governmental agency, or via this club's website using the DONATE page and selecting "Ukraine Refugee Aid" for your designation.]
John Storbeck
Rotary Club of Kirkland