'It’s a chain of trust': Chicago-based nonprofit helps over 15,000 evacuate war-torn Ukraine

Record ID: 1667638

  • Title: 'It’s a chain of trust': Chicago-based nonprofit helps over 15,000 evacuate war-torn Ukraine
  • Date: 6th April 2022
  • Summary: EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, USA (APRIL 4, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF UKRAINE TRUSTCHAIN FOUNDER, DANIIL CHERKASSKIY, WORKING ON HIS LAPTOP AT HOME
  • Embargoed: 20th April 2022 18:20
  • Keywords: Chernyhiv Chicago Kharkiv Kyiv Ukraine Ukraine Trustchain chain children evacuee evacuees refugee refugees women
  • Location: EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, USA; KHARKIV, UKRAINE; CHERNYHIV, UKRAINE; PORTUGAL; LOCATION UNKNOWN
  • City: EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, USA; KHARKIV, UKRAINE; CHERNYHIV, UKRAINE; PORTUGAL; LOCATION UNKNOWN
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA00G002306042022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A Chicago-based, volunteer-led not-for-profit has organized evacuations for over 15,000 people from war-torn Ukraine since February 25, 2022.
    Ukraine TrustChain funds teams on the ground in war zone cities that evacuate women, children, the elderly and persons with disabilities from the front lines of the Russian invasion.
    “Every dollar can do so much good,” said Daniil Cherkasskiy, founder of Ukraine TrustChain.
    Cherkasskiy was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine, but moved to Chicago, Illinois over 20 years ago.
    Since late-February, Cherkasskiy’s been juggling leading efforts to evacuate as many people from Ukraine as possible with his full-time job as an analytics director.
    Despite the long hours he’s logging, Cherkasskiy cedes the credit to the volunteer teams he’s working with in Ukraine.
    “They (volunteers) don’t take any money for themselves,” said Cherkasskiy. “They’re being fed by other volunteers.”
    In addition to evacuations, Ukraine TrustChain collects and distributes food and other basic needs to approximately 35,000 to 50,000 Ukrainians each week.
    The nonprofit has sent over $300,000 to date, and continues to raise and send roughly $80,000 each week.
    “I’ve been totally overwhelmed by the amount of support and people’s willingness to help and offer their networks and just give,” Cherkasskiy. “I hope that this will continue. I hope we will not end up in a situation where the need is just as dire, but everyone moved on to another topic.”
    All donations go directly to support volunteer efforts; a donation of as little as $3 can evacuate a person from the war zone.
    (Production: Eric Cox)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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