How to Help Ukraine: Holiday edition (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, 

Thank you for your continued support. Earlier this year, we launched a new membership benefit: the “How to Help Ukraine” newsletter. We send one edition per month, highlighting an organization supporting Ukraine and giving you a closer look at civil society in Ukraine. 

In 2025, our community has raised over $100,000 for Ukraine, according to the organizations we’ve featured. We’re sending you one final newsletter this year, to end 2025 on a good note.

In the holiday edition of the “How to Help Ukraine” newsletter, we’re excited to share with you a few different organizations that accept material aid or other opportunities for non-monetary support. 

Reusing IT

Reusing IT is a U.K. charity that collects and refurbishes laptops and desktop computers, and then distributes them to those in need — their mission is to help ensure that no one is excluded from education due to lack of technology, as well as to reduce electronic waste. 

Reusing IT was launched in the late 1990s. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the organization has prioritized helping Ukraine, sending over 10,000 electronic devices to Ukrainian children since 2022. Reusing IT has also partnered with Ukraine’s Education Ministry to deliver refurbished computers to Ukrainian educational institutions with the “Unbreakable Education” project. 

Reusing IT usually collects laptops in bulk from companies or government agencies who no longer need them — so please feel free to share this information with anyone who might find it useful — and for any donations of electronic devices, just email Reusing IT here. 

Postcards to the Front 

Postcards to the Front is a volunteer effort where people can write postcards with messages of support to Ukrainian soldiers. Since March 2023, they’ve sent over 37,000 postcards. They are collected in Ukraine and then included in care packages for soldiers.

Postcards to the Front was launched by three Ukrainian women after Russia’s full-scale invasion started. The idea of sending messages of support to front-line soldiers gained momentum on the international postcard exchange platform, Postcrossing. Now there are branches of Postcards to the Front in Australia and Canada, too. 

You can participate from anywhere in the world — just send your postcards to the location closest to you (i.e., either Canada, Australia, or Ukraine) — the postcards will be sent in bulk and collected in western Ukraine, where they will be added to the care packages and then delivered to the front line. You can find detailed instructions (including guidelines for writing messages of support) on the Australian branch’s website here. 

Postcards to the Front also accepts donations of postage and postcards (they do not accept monetary donations). You can also read and subscribe to their newsletter here.

Ukraine Relief

Ukraine Relief is a charity based in Bournemouth, England that accepts donations of essential items, which they then transport to Ukraine themselves — with less than 3% of administrative overhead.

Ukraine Relief was started by Karol Swiacki — a Polish national living in the U.K. — at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. He initially started by working with local businesses in Bournemouth to collect and distribute aid to Ukrainian refugee camps across southern Poland. Since then, the organization has been growing, having now delivered over 6,000 tons of aid to Ukraine, from clothing and food to hospital supplies and generators — and even 56 ambulances.

Ukraine Relief accepts essential items, including non-perishable food and first aid supplies, as well as financial donations. For those local to Bournemouth, you can find the complete list of items and the donation collection point here. Ukraine Relief also accepts financial contributions and is a registered charity in the U.K.

Thank you for your support — and we hope you find these letters highlighting organizations like these valuable. If you have any questions or feedback about our newsletter, please feel free to respond directly to this email or reach out via email at brooke@kyivindependent.com, and let us know what you think of this membership benefit.