POLAR FLEECE URGENTLY NEEDED FOR UKRAINIAN PEOPLE

David Halbout, a small business owner who crafts furniture in Red Bank, N.J., also works at FIT in the Spacial Experience Design department. He and his wife Nathalia, a retired psychiatric nurse, founded a grassroots rescue mission sending First Aid Kits designed for war wounds to Ukraine when the war started. They then flew to Europe to help her family find a new home in Prague after their Kyiv apartment got partially destroyed during an attack.

Explains Halbout, “We built a network of volunteers through friends of our friend, a United Nations lawyer. Everything we send goes directly to those in need; it is a direct chain of distribution.

“Then following the latest attacks on the Ukrainian electrical power grid and heating system, we received an urgent request for outerwear and layering pieces. Ukrainians are used to harsh winters, similar to those in Chicago. But this winter, the people of Ukraine will be without heat! In addition to coats (new or gently used), they will need undercoat layers, polar fleece(preferably with a full zipper), heavy sweatshirts (preferably with a full zipper), and thermal underwear.”

Donations should be sent to Halbout’s home address: 811 Arthur Drive, Redbank, N.J. 07701. Halbout’s team is shipping every two to three weeks. They are working with the non-profit USA Stands with Ukraine, a 501C3 non-profit; tax deduction certificates can be provided.

For more information, Halbout can be reached at 732-403-0400, or fenchfixllc@gmail.com.

We at MR thank the generous retailers and manufacturers who support this life-saving mission.

Photo, top, by Mathias Reding