February 23
Few in Ukraine thought Russia would invade.
February 24
Russian missiles struck military bases throughout Ukraine, including in Khmelnitskiy, the Western hometown of Chairwoman,
Natalie Massa, and Board Member Denys Katerenchuk. The missiles drove more than half the
population of 44 million underground to basements and subway stations.
Learn about chairwoman, Natalie Massa's, father who met his 70th birthday in a bomb shelter
February 25 – 28
We called everyone we knew to see if they were okay. Many were escaping Kyiv to the comparatively safer Khmelnitskiy.
We tracked their movements from Kyiv back to Khemelnitsky and asked them if they needed anything.
March 1
Natalie posted on Facebook requesting supplies donations for Ukraine. She posted on both her personal account first and then
thought to post in the Hamptons
Moms group.
Between the emotional magnitude of the moment and Natalie's personal connection to Ukraine the post went viral among the Hamptons Moms who
then shared it further throughout the East End of Long Island. One Hamptons Mom
said she saw the post fifteen times in her feed.
March 1 - 4
With help from the good hearted locals, Natalie collected supplies from 7 schools and 2 churches and many people dropped off directly at our house.
My basement filled and we needed to squish the pile down to fit below the 8 foot ceiling.
March 3
We attended a Stand with Ukraine Rally in East Hampton. We got picked up by two newspapers and a
television station.
March 4
We shipped our first 2,000 lbs of mixed supplies to Ukraine. We filled an extra-long van with clothes and first aid supplies and brought them to the Holy Family Ukrainian Church in Lyndenhurst for sorting and shipment to Ukraine via Meest Shipping company.
March 5
We conceived of our idea to start a non-profit with a disruptive business model which would maximize the financial impact of a cash donation.
We thought of the name iLoveUkraine and bought iLoveUkraine.org
Learn more about our mission
Learn more about our value proposition
March 6
East Hampton airport blocked off one fourth of their terminal to collect donations from everyone comes through.
March 7
We hired an attorney to incorporate as a nonprofit in the state of New York.
March 12
We received our EIN tax identification.
March 14
An iLoveUkraine Lunch benefit at Greek orthodox church raises $3,000 to ship supplies.
March 18
We connected our website to Stripe for secure online donations.
March 19
We shipped 2,000 lbs of first aid, baby supplies, and survival supplies to Ukraine taking them from the Greek Orthodox
church in Southampton to be shipped again by Meest. And we got our first online donation--$500!
March 25
We shipped 3,000 lbs of mostly clothes.
March 26
We received commitment for a second 3,000 lb donation.
Rocco A. Carriero Wealth Partners committed to donate 3,000 lbs of family necessity kits and pay for shipping by plane to Ukraine.
Plane shipping costs $3 per pound vs. $1 per pound for shipping by boat. Of course the need is urgent so it's amazing to have this donation
include the air shipping. Thank you Rocco!
Thank you to Meest who gave us an extremely generous discount on picking up the boxes and delivering them to the Meest depot.
Learn how you can help iLoveUkraine collect supplies and donations
April 7
We ship the 3,000 lbs to Bucha war crime victims.
In the middle of packing the family necessity kit boxes at West Hampton Beach Middle School we confirmed the final leg of our shipping
route to an iLoveUkraine volunteer on the ground in Kyiv. He will receive the boxes from Meest, near Kyiv and drive them to Bucha.
See map and live tracking the shipment to Bucha
Learn how you can help iLoveUkraine collect supplies and donations