The OFT Ukraine Mission Fundraiser for outfitting the heroes of Ukraine

Fresh off our very successful effort to buy and deliver wounded warrior transport boats to our adopted Field Hospital, we’re next directing our sponsorship efforts toward providing our adopted military company, the Blue Dogs, with vitally needed aid supplies.

The OFT Ukraine Mission has just launched a fundraising appeal in support of Ukraine’s citizen soldiers and regular army personnel serving on the front lines of the war.  Three weeks ago, while I was there on the front lines with these courageous soldiers, with their help I was able to determine what military gear and personal items they are in vital need of.

Being mostly citizen-soldiers or parts of the regular Ukrainian Military (both of which are significantly underfunded), the soldiers I was with had to use their own personal money for most of their larger logistical equipment; recently they pooled their money and bought a used van to serve as their primary transportation to and from the battlefield.  They are also frequently having to buy their own, more advanced weapons (for the most part these soldiers are fighting with either 60-70-year-old former Soviet weaponry or weapons they captured from Russian forces).

This leaves little or no money to buy their own personal military and humanitarian items – everything from creature comforts like underwear, blankets and toothpaste to molle vest pouches, safety glasses, binoculars, and night vision equipment.  Especially with Ukraine’s long, cold, dark winter right around the corner, getting these personal items to the troops is vitally important, which is why we need to act now and act aggressively, if for no other reason than the logistics of getting these aid items to the front lines is challenging to say the least.

While our small Mission is inherently limited and can’t realistically provide all the needed items to all of the troops currently fighting on the 800-plus-mile front lines, we’re focusing our effort to include just the most vitally needed items and beginning with sponsoring individual soldiers and individual companies of 10-15 soldiers each.

While we would greatly appreciate any sized donation (my eleven-year-old grandson graciously donated $10 from his allowance) we’re setting up sponsorships of $100 for sponsoring one Ukrainian soldier to $1,000 for sponsoring an entire Ukrainian company.

When those donations come in designated as such, we will then use those funds to buy the current most-vitally-needed items for each soldier.  As I noted earlier, we have already identified these items for the Blue Dogs, the Ukrainian anti-tank company that we were imbedded with three weeks ago – so we’ll start here.

I have also already identified the sources for all these items and where we can get the best prices, while I have also established a delivery process that will first get these items to our Mission Team Members based in Kyiv, who will then be tasked with getting it to the front lines (nearly 300 miles further south).  As much as possible, we will be buying these aid supplies there in Ukraine in order to support the local Ukrainian businesses (also because delivery/shipping items bought elsewhere will be costlier).

Importantly, since the Olson Family Trust is funding the procurement and delivery process, this means that 100% of the donated funds coming from our Mission supporters will go directly for purchasing these vitally needed items.  While we have applied for our 501(c)3 status, we have yet to receive it, but we will before the end of the year, so just save a receipt for your donation and keep an eye out for that announcement.

Here’s what’s currently on our list for outfitting the Blue Dogs to start with:

Thermal underwear tops and bottoms

Fleece/down/other coats, jackets and vests (camo preferred but will take any)

BDU jackets, coats, pants

Winter caps, hats, scarves, socks and gloves

Heavy blankets, quilts, space (foil) blankets, pillows

Winter sleeping bags

Handwarmers, footwarmers

Toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash

Body wash, shampoo

Sterilizing hand gel, soap

Towels of all sizes, washcloths

Food items of all available kinds – e.g., canned or concentrated soup

Molle vests and belts and accouterments – e.g., drop pouches, radio/phone pouches

Field glasses/binoculars

Solar collectors, chargers

Batteries of all sizes, Battery pacts for phones, computers

Night vision scopes, binoculars

Torches/flashlights and batteries

IFAK kits and other personal medical supplies

Drones and drone supplies

Used truck/van/car

“Accountability” is a big issue for me personally and for our Mission overall, so we will continue to be totally transparent in telling you how exactly we’re using your charitable funds.  In all cases I will report back here on our website the details of how we executed each funding exercise, just as I have done already for the very successful Field Hospital fundraiser to purchase the wounded warrior transport boats.

I hope in my reporting I have been able to convey to you just how personal this appeal is.  In just the short period of time that I was with these courageous soldiers, my respect and affection for them grew demonstrably, but I never lost sight of the fact that at the end of the day they are ordinary people, but ordinary people thrust into a very extraordinary situation.

“Care packages” being sent to soldiers on the front lines has probably been in existence as long as war has, and for good reason, because they produce positive results far in excess of the monetary value of whatever is in them.  Instead, the underlying value of a care package is simply the bundle of messages that are being conveyed to the soldiers by their loved ones with these simple gifts, messages like, “we haven’t forgotten about you…” and “…we really support you and want you to know how appreciative we are…”, and “I hope these small gifts make your lives a little more comfortable.”

Let’s send these messages to the Blue Dogs, and let them know that we in America have not forgotten about them and will stand with them until the war is won.

f you are interested in supporting the Blue Dogs and other Ukrainian military companies serving along the front lines, please email me at:

Chuck@BluefieldRanch.com