% MUCH.
% >> THANK YOU.
% >> MORE THAN A YEAR SINCE THE
% RUSSIAN MILITARY INVADED
% UKRAINE, RELIEF EFFORTS REMAIN
% HIGH.
% "HERE AND NOW" STUDENT
% JOURNALIST ADITI DEBNATH HAS
% THIS STORY OF A WISCONSIN ROTARY
% CLUB HELPING TO POWER HOMES
% DURING THE UKRAINIAN WINTER.
% >> MY PARTNERS AT THAT TIME TOLD
% ME WHAT I'M DOING IS INSANE, BUT
% IT'S GOING TO SAVE THOUSANDS OF
% LIVES, AND IT'S ONLY MONEY, AND
% WE'LL FIGURE IT OUT.
% ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
% >> RISKING HER RETIREMENT
% SAVINGS, ANYA VERKHOSVKAYA
% ORDERED JUST UNDER $1 MILLION
% WORTH OF PORTABLE POWER
% GENERATORS TO BE SENT TO
% UKRAINE, IN PREPARATION FOR THE
% WINTER MONTHS AHEAD.
% >> I'VE NEVER ORDERED 1100
% GENERATORS BEFORE.
% ACTUALLY, A FEW MONTHS AGO, I
% DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO START A
% GENERATOR, AND I DIDN'T KNOW
% ANYTHING ABOUT GENERATORS.
% >> SHE THEN MET DR. DOUG DAVIS,
% WHO HAD A SIMILAR MISSION.
% SINCE RUSSIA'S INNOV RUSSI RUSSF
% UKRAINE ALMOST A YEAR AGO,
% DR. DAVIS HAS SHIPPED AN
% ESTIMATED 100,000 POUNDS OF
% MEDICAL AID FROM A WAREHOUSE IN
% GERMANTOWN.%>> WE HAD PROBAB
LY 50 GAYLORD
% BOXES OF SUPPLIES THAT WE WERE
% HAVING TROUBLE GETTING SHIPPED.
% AND SHE'S LIKE, I COULD TAKE
% CARE OF THAT.
% >> DR. DAVIS WHOSE FAMILY IS
% UKRAINIAN, EVACUATED HIS IN-LAWS
% LAST FEBRUARY TO HIS HOME IN
% OREGON, WISCONSIN.
% HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW, DR. TARAS
% KHABA, HAS BEEN ABLE TO USE HIS
% MEDICAL CONNECTIONS IN UKRAINE
% TO HELP DETERMINE HIGH-NEED
% ITEMS.%>> I DIDN'T FEEL VERY
WELL AT
% THAT TIME AND HE TOLD ME I KNOW
% HOW TO HELP YOU, HOW TO HELP
% YOUR COUNTRY, AND THAT'S TO
% BECOME VOLUNTEERS.
% >> BUT DAVIS AND KHABA DIDN'T DO
% IT ALONE.
% THE ROTARY CLUB OF MILWAUKEE HAS
% PROVIDED COUNTLESS VOLUNTEERS
% TOWARD THE CAUSE, AND IN
% JANUARY, THE GROUP WAS ABLE TO
% FUNDRAISE FOR VERKHOSVKAYA'S
% GENERATOR PROJECT.
% >> WE LIKE TO THINK OF OURSELVES
% AS PEOPLE OF ACTION WHO WORK
% TOGETHER TO REALLY MAKE A
% DIFFERENCE, NOT ONLY IN THEIR
% COMMUNITIES, BUT COMMUNITY
% THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
% >> THIS FEBRUARY, DR. DAVIS
% TRAVELED TO UKRAINE, WHERE HE
% AND THE ROTARY CLUB OF UKRAINE
% TOOK DELIVERY OF THE FIRST
% GENERATORS TO ARRIVE.
% AMID-AIR RAID SIRENS AND
% CATCHING UP WITH FAMILY, HE SAYS
% WITNESSING THE PAYOFF IS WHAT
% KEEPS HIM GOING.
% >> I THINK LEARNING ABOUT ALL
% THAT MAY HAVE EVEN BEEN HARDER
% THAN MEDICAL SCHOOL.
% >> BACK IN WISCONSIN, VOLUNTEERS
% DON'T HAVE TIME TO CELEBRATE THE
% GENERATOR PROJECT'S SUCCESS.
% >> AND YOU CAN'T REALLY
% CELEBRATE ANY SMALL VICTORIES OR
% BIG VICTORIES BECAUSE THERE IS
% THIS TREMENDOUS CLOUD OF
% COLLECTIVE TRAGEDY THAT IS
% HAPPENING THAT YOU ARE TRYING TO
% FIGHT ALL THE TIME.
% >> THOUGH DONATIONS MAY BE
% SLOWING DOWN, THE CRISIS LEVEL
% NEED FOR HUMANITARIAN AID IN
% UKRAINE PERSISTS, NOW ONE LONG
% YEAR AFTER THE INVASION.
% >> IF PEOPLE THINK THIS IS JUST
% SOME COUNTRY IN EASTERN EUROPE,
% NO, THIS IS WORLD WAR THREE.
% >> FOR "HERE AND NOW," I'M ADITI