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40,000 pounds of humanitarian aid sent to Ukraine through new From Maine to Ukraine initiative

From Maine to Ukraine serves as a statewide relief program, where it collected various household items, food, and clothing.
Credit: Retail Association of Maine

AUGUSTA, Maine — The new initiative, From Maine to Ukraine, was set in motion in March by the Retail Association of Maine (RAM) and the Maine Tourism Association (MTA), a RAM news release states. 

It was made possible by RAM and MTA forming a collaboration with the Association of Retailers of Ukraine.

From Maine to Ukraine serves as a statewide relief program, where it collected various household items, food, and clothing from retailers in Maine, as well as Maine's hospitality and tourism businesses. Mainers helped contribute items as well, the news release stated.

The initiative sent out around 40,000 pounds of the collected humanitarian aid on Monday to New Jersey, where it will then be further processed and, finally, sent to Lviv, Ukraine. The news release stated the assistance would be able to fill up close to three shipping containers.

"When we launched this project, we had no idea how much we would collect," Curtis Picard, president, and CEO of the Retail Association of Maine, said in the news release. "I know Mainers are generous people, but I was simply blown away by how thoughtful and helpful they were. In addition to the locations that we set up, some people set up their own collection locations, and the donations poured in."

"There are so many people who helped make this project successful," Tony Cameron, CEO of the Maine Tourism Association, said in the news release. "Our staff collected goods at the Maine Visitor Information Centers, and we had so many staff and volunteers help consolidate and sort the items for shipping. This ended up being a huge project, but the support we received made it work."

Picard also noted in the news release that an unexpected yet heartwarming number of Mainers included handwritten letters with the humanitarian aid donations, with some even thoughtfully written in both English and Ukrainian.

For more up-to-date information on the efforts being done by From Maine to Ukraine, visit their website here.

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