Late last month Executive Travel in Lincoln announced they were spearheading a humanitarian effort in Poland to care for the refugees from war torn Ukraine.
The company launched Operation Safe Harbor Ukraine by pledging a matching $25,000 donation. Executive Travel is paying for hotel rooms for refugees to stay in and Marketing Director Brian Wallingford, who is leading the effort in Warsaw, says the support they have received has exceeded his expectations. “We currently have 148 people staying in the hotel and we’re housing primarily families of three and four and most of them are mothers with children,” Wallingford says.
He says with the help of businesses and organizations in Poland and Ukraine they are able to provide food, clothing, medical services and toys for children. Wallingford says he’s financial donations from Nebraskans has made all the difference.
“We are still getting thousands of dollars a day and we’ve actually exceeded out goal in what we needed to house these people for 28 days in this hotel.” He says they are able to feed 150 people for $450 American dollars. “These are hot meals, they are Polish meals, they are Indian meals, they are Ukrainian meals depending on the restaurants that we’re working with.”
Wallingford calls the mission he is leading the most rewarding experience of his life. “To see the relief on these people’s face to not only be safe from where they’ve come, but also to know that they have some security that they need to be able to take a day or two to breathe, get their life together and figure out what they need to do next.”
He says thousands of dollars in tax deductible donations have allowed them to care for the refugees and they are looking at adding more rooms or expanding into another hotel.
The website www.operationsafeharborukraine.com has been launched to explain details of the humanitarian effort. It also includes a tax-exempt donation link through a partnership with Heartland Bible Church. 100-percent of all donations go directly to Ukrainians in need, with zero administrative fees.
Wallingford says they are also posting updates of their mission on the website under the “Live Updates” section.