Volunteer evacuation organizations formed in response to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan have spent six long months honing their skills. They have sourced housing and supplies for at-risk Afghans and the means to evacuate them to a haven.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some of these organizations are using their exhausted yet invigorated volunteers to expand their operations and serve Ukrainian refugees. Their ability to provide speedy support is a testament to the strength of the organizations they have created.
Chris Neumann is an investment banker and board member at “Heart of an Ace,” which distributes food, medicine, clothing, and heaters to Afghans struggling to survive a cash-strapped, food-insecure winter. Within 12 hours of the Russian invasion, Neumann told me his evacuation colleagues decided to assist in Ukraine. Soon, 100 individuals divided out tasks, found safe routes, worked out transportation, translated, or provided medical aid. Neumann said the effort now includes between 500 and 600 volunteers.
Afghanistan taught groups “to do [disaster relief] in a really responsible, methodical, and accountable fashion [that] adds legitimacy and a robustness to this citizen response that is just increasing over time,” Neumann said. As more established government and aid groups come to the scene in Ukraine, Neumann said they tell him that “the model of collaborative NGO efforts is actually a really nimble way to address crisis response.”
Ben Owen, president of nonprofit organization Flanders Fields, told me that mirroring their networks in Afghanistan allowed them to be in Ukraine with speed. As of Sunday, he estimated that members of his network had successfully evacuated around 300 Ukrainians. Owen is also using his unique expertise from evacuating orphans in Afghanistan to assist NGOs and federal government agencies in working through legal complexities that impede the evacuation of 10,000 Ukrainian orphans.
New Orleans chef Amy Sins, executive director of Fill the Needs, has 15 years of expertise in providing rapid response to hurricanes and flooding.
“The formula that we have used for flood relief immediately translated for Afghanistan and … for Ukraine,” Sins told the Washington Examiner. Fill the Needs is designed to respond during the first two weeks of an emergency.
Another person offering support in Ukraine is Jed Gourley, a member of the nondenominational Calvary Chapel church who planted churches in Ukraine between 1992 and 2007. From his home in Tbilisi, Georgia, Gourley organizes supplies to assist with the transportation of personnel and logistical aid for Ukrainian churches that have become shelters.
Although nearly 2 million have fled the country, many Ukrainians “stay there to help … The churches in Ukraine are united,” Gourley said. “I see them as very strong. They are not going to back down, they are going to fight for their country … It is going to make the need to serve and care for these people all the more important.”
To continue providing for affected populations in Ukraine, Gourley said he hopes for prayers and financial donations, as sending material donations overseas from the United States is difficult.
Afghanistan evacuation organizations are also in need of funds to continue supporting Ukrainian refugees and at-risk Afghans. But Neumann argues operations in “Ukraine actually opened more doors in terms of people who have solutions in Afghanistan,” leaving organizations “better armed to help the Afghans we set out to help in the first place.”
Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area.
