Looking for a direct and safe way to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine? The Education Foundation of Downers Grove District 58 invites District 58 to participate in a special community-wide Ukrainian Aid Medical Supplies and Medicine Drop-off Event on Saturday, May 14 from 5-7 p.m. in the parking spots of 5122-5128 Main St., Downers Grove (adjacent to Wasabi).
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A box truck and tent will be onsite to collect donations. The drop-off event will conclude with remarks from Downers Grove Mayor Bob Barnett at 7 p.m. when he’ll stand with the Ukrainian business owner to view the items donated. Live music at Wasabi will then start at 7:15 p.m., featuring Briley, Village Council Member Chris Gilmartin, and the band Left of Center. Throughout the afternoon and evening, many downtown Downers Grove businesses will have special drink, food and retail discount options associated with the event.
The event’s fiscal sponsor is the not-for-profit brain cancer foundation called Brain Freeze, Inc., nfp. The event’s music is provided by 1126 Entertainment, LLC.
What donations are being collected?
All medical supplies and medicines, but especially:
- Bandages, tourniquets, slings, braces;
- Surgical medical kits;
- Burn creams & pads, wound care, hydrocortisone, eye wash;
- First aid kits, gauze, elastic wraps;
- Disposable gloves, alcohol wipes;
- Soap, antiseptic wipes;
- Insulin, glucose, lidocaine; and
- Aspirin, pain killers, Benadryl, Pepto-Bismol pills, Cold/Flu pills
Where can I donate these items?
While the May 14 drop-off event is the main place to make donations, many of the event’s sponsors and community partners are providing donation boxes in their businesses (like the donation box pictured here). Please feel free to donate any of the above listed medical supplies and medicines at the following businesses and homes (front porches), between now and May 14:
- Downers Grove Park District – Recreation Center
- 4500 Belmont Road
- Downers Grove Park District -- Lincoln Center
- 935 Maple Ave.
- Downtown Downers Grove Management Corporation
- 933A Curtiss St.
- Downers Grove YMCA-Sponsored Farmer's Market (Saturday, May 14, 9 a.m.-noon)
- Drop off circle - Train Station
- Ukrainian Aid Event Coordinator Tom Schroder’s Home
- 4815 Forest Ave. (Front Porch Dropbox)
- Beil & Stromberg Insurance
- 110 Curtiss Ave.
- Christ Church Butterfield
- 2S361 Glen Park Road, Lombard
- Front Entrance, M-F 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., May 8 and May 14 until noon
- Christ Church Oak Brook
- 501 Oak Brook Road, Oak Brook
- Foyer Inside Door 17, M-F 9 a.m.-5 p.m., May 8 and May 14 until noon
- F45 Training Downers Grove
- 151 W. Ogden Ave.
- Keller Williams Experience Realty
- 5122A Main St.
- Moose Lodge 1535
- 1030 Warren Ave.
- Oakley Home Builders
- 4912 Main St.
- Orange & Brew Bottling Company
- 1027 Burlington Ave.
- Perspire Sauna Studio
- 640 Ogden Ave., Unit D
- Rotary of Downers Grove
- 4620 Prince St. (Front Porch Dropbox)
- Spenga
- 5216 Main St.
- Wasabi Restaurant & Bar
- 5130 Main St.
- Watts of Love
- 900 Warren Ave.
In addition to the Education of Downers Grove District 58 and the sponsors listed above, Bar Chido, Cadence Kitchen, The Foxtail, Matthies Builders and Pierce Tavern are also sponsoring the event.
How will these donations get to Ukraine?
Pictured above: Recent humanitarian aid shipments from Precision Circuits in Downers Grove have reached their destination in Ukraine.
All items are being collected and shipped through Precision Circuits, a Downers Grove-based and Ukrainian-owned company. Precision Circuits has family in Ukraine, and they are working directly with the Polish and Ukrainian embassies, as well as a Ukrainian-owned air carrier, to efficiently and directly ship all items to Warsaw, Poland, and from there, the items will be trucked into the heart of Ukraine to be immediately put to use exactly where the items are needed that day. Items will never be sitting idle in a warehouse. Precision Circuits has already shipped 30,000 tons of items, the equivalent of 5 semi-truck loads to Ukraine, and they are confident that all donations will arrive in Ukraine within 10 days.
Last week, Mayor Barnett, Village Council Member Rich Kulovany and District 58 Education Foundation President Janet Alikpala met the Precision Circuits CEO and key staff, toured their warehouse, asked questions, and viewed the several hundreds of donation boxes already collected that were being prepared for shipment.
How is the Education Foundation of Downers Grove District 58 involved?
The Education Foundation has joined several other Downers Grove non-profits and businesses to serve as an event sponsor. The event sponsors will allow the Event Coordinators the ability to purchase harder-to-acquire items (like surgical kits and certain medicines) and also to help offset the cost of shipping the items to Ukraine.
How else can I help?
Community members can also contribute funds through the Downers Grove Ukrainian Aid’s GoFundMe page at https://gofund.me/3feea310. All funding raised on this page will be used to purchase harder-to-acquire medical supplies (such as surgical kits) and medicines.