Randolph – The World Orphan Fund (WOF), a Wisconsin based charity, announced that two of its board members are traveling to Ukraine to assess the needs of orphans being evacuated from war torn areas of the country. WOF President R.J. Johnson and board member Joe Spadino will spend the next five days traveling to locations in southwestern Ukraine to meet with NGOs, caregivers and volunteers involved in caring for more than 600 displaced orphans.
“Many of these children come from devastated cities and were found with their deceased parents,” said Johnson, “and they are not speaking or interacting in any way.” In other cases entire homes of previously-orphaned children have been evacuated. Johnson and Spadino will be met in Romania by board members of the NGO Bird of Light Ukraine who will guide them during their time in Ukraine.
“While we have all seen the devastation on our nightly news, it’s really important to assess the needs of these kids firsthand so we can better understand top priorities and where we can best help. This is an unprecedented emergency, and clearly everything is needed, from housing and food to medical care and therapy,” said Johnson. “Once we have a handle on what’s most important, we’ll get to work to provide the needed resources, whether that’s money, experts or manpower.” The group has set up a microsite for public donations for the effort at UkraineOrphanCrisis.com.
Founded in 2011, The World Orphan Fund is an all-volunteer Wisconsin based charity where 100% of donations are spent directly on behalf of orphans around the world. Board members cover their own travel expenses and have visited more than 90 homes in 13 countries, funding more than 100 projects including vocational training, transition programs, housing, therapy, clean water, emergency food, and other critical needs.
For more details upon their return, please contact media@platform-communications.com.
