NH’s Common Man for Ukraine delivers Christmas to Ukrainian orphans for second year
“We never dreamed that one year later we would go back at that same safe house and there were those same children,” Susn Mathison said. “While it was wonderful to see them again and be welcomed like friends, it was awful to think that these 4-to-16-year-old kids had spent the last year basically in
PLYMOUTH, NH – Grassroots relief nonprofit Common Man for Ukraine‘s leaders returned to New England on Tuesday after delivering food, generators, and holiday gifts as part of their second Christmas Convoy and eighth humanitarian aid trip overall to war-torn Ukraine.
In visiting 17 orphanages and safe houses across 10 western Ukrainian cities over the long weekend, Common Man for Ukraine provided more than 760 orphans and internally displaced children with Christmas presents, nutritious food, and critical humanitarian supplies.
“Such a surreal experience to be both elated and miserable at the same time,” nonprofit co-founder Susan Mathison said about looking into the eyes of Ukraine’s children of war. “That’s what it feels like when you think about all the building blocks of life that have been taken away from them. And they’re doing their best – smiling and greeting us – but looking at the road they have ahead from an adult perspective, we’re more motivated than ever to continue this work to support them.”
In December 2022, Common Man for Ukraine embarked on its first Christmas Convoy, delivering 18 tons of food, 1,000 sleeping bags, 50 generators, and holiday packages to more than 1,300 orphans and displaced children at 21 orphanages and safe houses. On Saturday, the nonprofit’s co-founders found themselves greeted warmly as old friends as they returned to one of the locations for the second straight Christmas season.
“We never dreamed that one year later we would go back at that same safe house and there were those same children,” Mathison said. “While it was wonderful to see them again and be welcomed like friends, it was awful to think that these 4-to-16-year-old kids had spent the last year basically in hiding and wondering how life was at home.”
Throughout 2023, Common Man for Ukraine emphasized the need for mental health programming. One such project is called Children of Ukraine Health Retreat, a monthly, 3-week-long residential trauma counseling program held in Zakopane, Poland, for Ukrainian children who have lost at least one parent in the war.
The volunteer-run group has raised and delivered more than $3 million in humanitarian aid to Ukrainian orphans and displaced children, resulting in more than 900 tons of food, 10,000 sleeping bags, and hundreds of generators, as well as the development of day-treatment and the aforementioned residential child trauma counseling programs.
“These kids need all of our help to survive this awful situation,” said Alex Ray, the Common Man for Ukraine co-founder who launched the effort with a $1 million leadership donation. “With the public’s generous support, we’ve been able to do some good for these children of war. But we know that in 2024 there’s simply more good to do.”
Tax-deductible donations can be made online at commonmanforukraine.org, by Donor Advised Fund (DAF), or by check to: Common Man for Ukraine, 71 Main Street, Plymouth, NH 03264
About Common Man for Ukraine
Common Man for Ukraine is an initiative of the 501c3 nonprofit organization Plymouth Rotary Foundation, EIN 59-3841932. The grassroots, volunteer-run organization delivers humanitarian aid, food and trauma counseling to Ukrainian orphans, displaced children, and families struggling to survive the war. All donations are tax-deductible and can be made at commonmanforukraine.org.
