Medical Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine

Not Just Tourists (NJT) is a medical humanitarian aid organization started thirty years ago in Niagara by Dr. Ken Taylor and his wife Denise. Over thirty enthusiastic volunteers have collected donated medicine, medical supplies, and equipment which is provided to medical professionals in over 90 needy countries.

Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, NJT was approached by members of St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Niagara Falls to help supply much-needed aid to Ukraine. Within a couple of days NJT volunteers, under the direction of nurse coordinator Jane Gordon, sorted and packed 250 boxes of medical supplies. This was followed a few days later by many more boxes of medicine. These items were exclusively from our supply of donated items.

Not only were the NJT volunteers eager to help, but volunteers from the Niagara Warehouse of Hope and For the Needy – Not the Greedy organizations were as well.  Both have provided medical equipment and supplies and funded the cost of sea containers.  The needs of the people of Ukraine are far greater than ever dealt with before.  Until this time, we had received donations from Rotary Clubs to cover some of our expenses. For the first time, we needed to actively fundraise to start purchasing medicine in particular.

Fundraising

For many years the parishioners of St. Thomas’ Church, St. Catharines have been very supportive of NJT. When we asked for assistance with fundraising, they readily agreed. As a result, for more than a year and a half we have been able to purchase medicine. Ken is a practicing Family Physician and through his contacts can purchase antibiotics and pain medicine for approximately half of the wholesale price paid by pharmacies. We are grateful to JAMP Pharma, Drug Representative Moya Freeman, and pharmacists Ron and Mark Bocchinfuso of Merritton Community Pharmacy and John and the late Cathy Henderson of Henderson’s Pharmacy in Thorold for their support.

We are grateful to St. Thomas’ parishioners and others who have generously donated to this cause, enabling us to purchase more than $4000 (wholesale) worth of medicine each month. Most of this medicine is air shipped to Ukraine with the financial support of many  Ukrainian Churches – in particular St. John Ukrainian Catholic Church, St. Catharines and AMD for Hope, and St. Peter and St. Paul Church who pay the shipping costs. It is important to note that this project is being accomplished by many Christian Churches working together.

Shipments and Delivery

Our volunteers along with Niagara Warehouse of Hope volunteers are collecting items to fill the 12th sea container to be sent to Ukraine over the summer. In addition to NJT, medical supplies, equipment and medicine from the Warehouse of Hope and food from Niagara Christian Gleaners is being collected.

Recently, members of St. John Ukrainian Catholic Church, St. Catharines, gave a slide presentation to St. Thomas’ describing their recent trip to Ukraine. They explained the procedure they follow to collect, ship and distribute our donations to various parts of the country. Several Ukrainian churches in Hamilton and Toronto are also involved in the shipping process. The aid is distributed to numerous parts of the country where it is then further distributed to many destinations. Volunteers risk their lives daily to get the aid to where it is needed the most. The presenters expressed with great emotion their appreciation for St. Thomas’ ongoing support and presented them with a Ukrainian Flag signed by soldiers and others.

Translation of the flag is as follows:

This is the flag of a free country.
This is the flag of cities and villages.
This is the flag of my fatherland and the eternity of goodness in it.

It floats like the blue sky, without a cloud and is a symbol of goodness.
And yellow, the wealth of this soil.
A mark of faith and warmth.

For more information on how you can help, contact Ken and Denise Taylor at 905-646-5110 or [email protected]