Healys bringing convoy of supplies to help Ukraine

A convoy of minibuses and jeeps laden with essential supplies including food, clothes, batteries and medical supplies will set off from Trim on 24th November for war-torn Ukraine.

The convoy will be led off by Luba Healy and her husband Eugene, who last year, rescued Luba's mother and grandmother from Ukraine and brought them to safety in Trim.

Luba, Eugene, and a group of up to 20 volunteers will drive the vehicles laden with supplies to the Ukrainian border where they will hand over the vehicles and goods to reputable aid workers, before the group fly home to Ireland.

Luba, who is Ukrainian, and Eugene have made a number of journeys to Ukraine with aid, and they are in the process of setting up a registered charity Love Ukraine Benefit Alliance (LUBA). They are linking in with Summerhill Ukrainian Support Committee and the Helping Irish Hosts group to undertake their biggest convey to date.

"We have four 4X4s and a number of minibuses - we are still organising the buses - and thanks to a fantastic gentleman from Tallaght we will be bringing neonatal incubators, gym equipment for rehabilitation of the injured, and a lot of medical supplies," says Luba.

"We are hoping to bring over a number of ambulances and we are in the process of trying to buy a couple of fire engines to bring with us. People are very generous and money is coming into us every day," she says.

The journey will involve 37 hour of driving covering 2,000 miles.

Emer Irwin of the Summerhill Ukrainian Support Committee says they are still looking for more donations.

"This year we are focusing on mobility aids and medical supplies as many elderly and disabled people have remained in Ukraine.

"We are looking for older vehicles that can be repaired easily and can cope with the many damaged roads and bring supplies to those in need," she explains.

"Funds are required to cover the fuel, ferry tickets and accommodation on the journey. All volunteers will pay for their flight home. We may need to purchase some vehicles so funds are requireed to purchase these."

They are also looking for donations of socks, hats, underwear, boots, warm clothes for children and adults, jackets, dry food, wipes, medical products, batteries and power banks.

"We are bringing vehicles and leaving them there so if you have an old jeep or car you can donate or want to get rid of we would really appreciate it," says Luba.

She explains that the volunteers who will distrbute on the Ukrainian side include aid workers from both the Cathoic and Ukrainian Churches and she knows the aid will reach the right places.

The plight of those in Ukraine is very close to Luba's heart. She is originally from Haivoron, a town in central Ukraine, three hours from Odessa and five hours from Kyiv.

Luba came to Ireland for a year in 2000 and ended up staying a while longer. She met her husband. Eugene in 2003 when she started work in Trimfold, where he is managing director.

Luba's mum, Nina, and grandmother, Galina Vituck were living in Haivoron when the war broke out.

Luba was extremely worried for them as they initially refused to come to Ireland but as the fighting continued, they agreed to make the journey in May last year .

Luba, Eugene, their son, Francis and family friend, Diarmuid Dawson set out for Ukraine last May in a camper van and a jeep laden with supplies and brought both back women to Trim, along with a number of other refugees from her hometown. Since then Galina has celebrated her 100th birthday.

Luba says her mother, Nina is homesick, but loves spending time with her grandchildren. Her grandmother is getting frailer and will be 101 in a few weeks time, but enjoys looking out the window andwaving as people passing by.

The whole family is supportive of the fund raising campaign, and last minute preparations are taking place for the aid convoy which sets off at the weekend.