Common Man effort Relief for Ukraine raises $2.5 million

A Ukrainian relief effort, started by Alex Ray, owner of the Common Man hospitality family in New Hampshire, set out with a goal to raise $1 million. In just six months, the campaign has raised $2.5 million, which has gone to fund everything from generators for orphanages to a blood mobile for supplying field hospitals.  

Since 2014, Ukraine has been involved in a conflict with Russia and pro-Russian separatists. On Feb. 24, Russia officially invaded Ukraine, ramping up the conflict up to a war. Since the invasion through Dec. 18, an estimated 6,826 Ukrainian civilians have been killed. According to a report from the BBC, 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been slain since February. The bloodshed has left thousands of children orphaned or displaced from their families. Some of those children were able to receive gifts, warmth and even electricity thanks to the charitable efforts of Granite Staters and the New Hampshire Relief for Ukraine Fund. 

“When this thing started, when they got barraged, people in our country asked, 'How can we help?'” Ray recalled. “We can’t send containers of stuff, it takes too long, and only 60% gets there by the time you’re done."

Instead of sending material goods, Ray decided to raise money, then travel to to ground zero to assess the needs locally, and arrange for the goods to be purchased on the spot, eliminating the intermediary as much as possible.

“The first thing I thought of was Rotary Clubs,” Ray said. “It’s global, all around the world. Why not call Poland and talk to the chief of one district if they could help receive our resources and find out what they need and fill it with our fundraising?”

Ray and a group of close friends traveled to a Rotary Club in Warsaw, Poland. The eastern nation has taken on a vital humanitarian role during the war due to its close proximity to Ukraine. 

By Ray’s account, only three of the 15 or so Polish Rotary members spoke English, but the two groups were able to make a powerful arrangement. 

“Three days later we came home with a laundry list of six items,” Alex said. “We don’t have to send them anything except the money to procure those things in either Poland or Ukraine, and that’s what we did. It worked out and it just developed.”

To raise the funds, Ray rallied local Rotary Clubs, his own restaurants, powerful old friends and media outlets across the state.

The Common Man was joined by WMUR, iHeart Media, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Granite United Way, former Gov. John Lynch and the Rotary Clubs of Plymouth and Warsaw in its efforts. 

Ray’s friend and partner in the effort, Susan Mathison, described the high-priority supplies.

“We’ve sent 700 tons of food, 10,000 sleeping bags, 500 generators, purchased a blood mobile that is now deployed in eastern Ukraine,” Mathison said. “A trauma counseling center is now funded for the next two years. That’s for refugee children in Poland. We also provided three sessions of two weeks of psychologically supported vacations for orphans.”

The Warsaw Rotary Club raised a fleet of trucks and drivers to bring food, presents and generators directly to orphanages in Ukraine. Ray and his team joined the ride to help deliver the supplies in person. Along the way, the convoy was blessed by Orthodox priests, and received a warm welcome from the mayor of Lviv, Ukraine.

“It was a three-day Christmas convoy of 30 trucks that went to 21 different orphanages,” Mathison said. “Each one got enough food for 40 days, one or two generators depending on their size, enough sleeping bags for each child, and a Christmas package for each kid.” 

According to Ray and Mathison, around 1,300 children received Christmas packages containing stuffed animals, solar lanterns and candy. Reaching the orphanages was a difficult task due to weather and the secretive nature of the facilities.

“The orphanages are hidden in unmarked buildings to protect them from being discovered,” Mathison explained. “They are afraid the Russians will target the orphanages, so they are kept secret.”

Throughout the conflict, Russia has increasingly pivoted toward targeting civilian locations like hospitals and residential zones in an effort to wear down the population’s fighting spirit. Such attacks, however, have appeared only to harden the Ukrainians and isolate Russia even further from the international community, which has poured in billions in the form of humanitarian and military funding.

When the convoy finally arrived at the orphanage, the trucks got stuck in the snowbank and poor weather. The team moved through the woods on foot to get help and deliver the goods on time.

“There was no electricity in the buildings, it was pitch black and the kids didn’t know we were coming,” Ray said. “We walked through the woods. It was an amazing face-to-face with these kids.” 

Mathison described the encounter as a storybook setting.

“The older boys rushed out to help Alex and the crews and pushed them out of the snowbanks,” Mathison said. “The younger ones sang Christmas carols in Ukrainian by the snowbank.”

Both Ray and Mathison were incredibly proud and grateful of the funds they were able to raise. 

“One of the magic things about this is everyone did what he or she could and had the faith and trust in us that we would deliver to Ukraine,” Mathison said. 

“It was roughly 2,500 people that donated from just $15 to an anonymous donation of a quarter-million dollars,” Ray said. “It’s been a wonderful testament to see how much people care.”

Although the fund more than doubled the initial goal, Ray and Mathison said their work is far from done. 

“As the war has dragged on and winter is now a weapon of war, we've decided to continue forward, so CommonManForUkraine.org is the website where people can continue to donate,” Mathison said.