Project Aid & Rescue

On March 5, 2022, just 12 days after the Russians invaded Ukraine, I flew to Europe to assist with the mass evacuation of children and refugees. I had no idea then, that within a few months, I would become the founder of a 501(c)3 charity organization called Project Aid & Rescue, Inc. (PAR). Our mission is to aid with medicine, medical equipment, food, supplies and the evacuation of Ukrainians that have been injured or no longer have a safe place to live.

Like so many people from around the world who dropped everything and put their own lives on hold, I joined an independent, (and initially), a very unorganized group of volunteers from all walks of life, who came together in what has become the largest grassroots humanitarian effort since WW2.

We are businessmen and women, doctors and nurses and teachers, sales professionals, housewives, engineers, former soldiers, pilots and everything in between.

Men and women who were simply living their lives before February 24, 2022, but have now formed hundreds of non profit organizations that have become very good at logistics and operations, good at securing and transporting millions of tons of food, medicine and equipment into Ukraine and performing miracle medical evacuations, often under extreme secrecy.

One such organization we have supported and partnered with is a group of independent pilots with their own small planes based out of Germany, called Ukraine Air Rescue.

Together, we have brought medical supplies into Ukraine and brought injured people out of Ukraine to receive medical care in other countries. All of this has been funded by independent people and charities.

In February of this year, my friend Kay from Ukraine Air Rescue, introduced me to a young woman by the name of Emma Igual from Spain, who was the Director of a humanitarian aid organization named Road to Relief. They were in need of several ambulances as well as medical supplies and asked me for help.

Over the next six months, I spoke with Emma several times and Project Aid & Rescue helped Emma and Road to Relief obtain some of the equipment and supplies she was requesting.

This past June, with our partner Charita Shteynberg of World of Connections, we shipped them thousands of antibiotics‘s and other medications for them to use in their ambulances to treat evacuees and the injured.

Like Kay and Emma, I have met and worked with hundreds of amazing people from around the world, and we have developed a network of teams, partners, and associations, who have worked together for the greater good, in order to do what we can to reduce the suffering of the Ukrainian people.

On the morning of September 11, 2023 Emma and 3 other members of the Road to Relief team left from Slovyansk and drove towards Bakhmut to assess the needs of civilians caught in the crossfire in the town of Ivanivske, Bakhmut Region, Donetsk, Oblast.

As they drove through Chasiv Yar, west of Bakhmut, they came under attack and their vehicle suffered a direct hit from a Russian ATGM (anti-tank guided missile). Their vehicle flipped over and caught on fire.

In the vehicle was German medical volunteer, Reuben Mawick, Swedish volunteer, Johan Mathias Thyr, Canadian volunteer Anthony “Tonko” Ihnat, and my friend and colleague, Spanish Volunteer and Road to Relief Director, Emma Igual.

Reuben and Johan were badly injured with shrapnel and burns, while Tonko and Emma were killed.

The blatant attack and murder of medical volunteers, (a team who I personally knew, and supported), has hit many of us in the volunteer aid community, very hard.

Emma Igual had become legendary for assisting thousands of Ukrainians over the last 18 months.

Here is a article about her:
https://www.thejc.com/news/world/a-bouquet-for-a-brave-young-jewish-woman-risking-her-life-daily-in-ukraine-748wp6ihVLbxTLJtKmTOdh

Emma, was a young 32 year old, Jewish woman from Spain. She was inspired by her grandmother who survived the Holocaust. While at Berkeley, Emma decided that aiding other humans was a Jewish value to which she would dedicate her life. It is clear that she was beloved by the Ukrainian humanitarian community and those she saved.

So, I invite you to do 2 things:

1) Whether attending church or attending synagogue on Yom Kippur, please consider saying kaddish or a memorial prayer for Emma and Tonko and the entire Road to Relief organization.

2) Please make a donation to Project Aid & Rescue or Road to Relief or Ukraine Air Rescue or World of Connections or any organization helping Ukraine and in the comments please note the donation is in memory of Emma and Tonko.

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Emma was a modern day Jewish heroine. She refused to stand by as a bystander and look the other way during this “Never Again” moment.

Like so many volunteers, she had her whole life ahead of her and put everything on hold to help. And she paid the ultimate price.

May her memory be a blessing.