Dear friends

Thank you to all of you in Australia and New Zealand that have contributed to our appeal. We have raised $40,000 so far and are hoping to hit the $50,000 mark in the coming days.

We are in daily contact with our brothers and sisters in Europe and your contribution is going directly to foods and medicines in Ukraine as well as neighbouring states. Anything that you can contribute will go to direct aid and assistance.

The situation for the people in Ukraine is getting worse day by day. Food, medicine, and gasoline are becoming scarce. The desperation is great.

More than 650,000 people have already left the country in recent days. Many of them with just a small suitcase, some with only the clothes on their backs. Hundreds of thousands are still trying to reach safety in neighboring countries. The situation at the borders is becoming increasingly dramatic. “Queues of cars of up to 40 kilometers long are forming at the border with Poland and Slovakia. People need blankets. They have to wait for hours in their cars or make their way on foot,” said Pavlo Titko, head of Malteser Ukraine.

What gives us hope in the face of these horrifying stories are the thousands of Order of Malta relief workers who are working non-stop to help. Already on Saturday, the first aid transport from the Order of Malta in Germany arrived in Ukraine. Thanks to the tireless work of Malteser Ukraine, the displaced people receive warm meals provided by mobile field kitchens as well as medical care. On the other side of the border, our colleagues in Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia are receiving and caring for the arriving and exhausted people as best they can. We are supporting them with funds, materials, and our constant prayers.

Your help is still urgently needed! The people in Ukraine and the more than 650,000 Ukrainian refugees already in other countries are in urgent need of donations to help provide them with shelter, food, and medicine.

Please give what you can. You can make a donation to our Emergency Relief Fund using one of the following methods:

• ONLINE using our secure payment portal
• DIRECT DEPOSIT to The Order of Malta, BSB 083 453, Acc: 44888 1897 Please use the description “UKRAINE” and email info@orderofmalta.org.au to help us identify your donation and issue a receipt
• CHEQUES made payable to ‘Ukraine Appeal, The Order of Malta’ and sent to The Order of Malta, PO Box 79 Caringbah, NSW 1495

Gifts of all sizes are greatly appreciated and donations of $2 and more are tax deductible.

Thank you  for your support.

Yours sincerely

John Murphy

National Hospitaller, Australian Association