Ukraine - the amazing support from Boho beautiful community
By Gregg Tully – Executive Director Save the Dogs Romania & Secretary Save the Dogs USA former colleague of mine who helps stray dogs in Kathmandu, Nepal reached out to me. She heard about Save the Dogs’ work to help animals in Ukraine who are victims of the war, she was impressed with how much we’re accomplishing, and she said her online yoga group might help.
I thought they might raise a little money so we can feed a few more abandoned cats and dogs. I had no idea what would happen.
Boho Beautiful is far more than an online yoga group. The founders, Juliana and Mark, have cultivated a vibrant online community that is actively engaged with their lifestyle. The Boho community also has a strong focus on giving to important causes, and they have already rallied together to help other charities. Furthermore, Juliana is Ukrainian and so our work is particularly close to her heart.
Members of the Boho team reached out to me, we discussed a fundraising campaign, and we made a plan to use a crowdfunding platform. Juliana and Mark made videos about the plight of animals in Ukraine, to complement the videos and photos that the Save the Dogs team made when we were in Ukraine ourselves. I was amazed that in the first day of the campaign, they raised more than US$10,000 from dozens of donors. Within a couple weeks, they reached their target of $50,000.
I can’t find the right words to say how grateful we are for the support of the Boho Beautiful community. The war is continuing without an end in sight and the needs of the abandoned pets on the streets of Ukraine are as great as ever, but the war is in the news far less often so it’s harder to find funding for this work. The contributions from the Boho community came when we needed them most.
They are enabling us to continue to send trucks full of dog and cat food to more than 9,000 animals who would be starving on the streets without us. Also thanks to their support, we can sterilize dogs and cats to prevent them from producing puppies and kittens who struggle to survive on the streets, especially in the harsh Ukrainian winters.
Additionally, we can build the capacity of some of our partner organizations in Ukraine.
With more support from compassionate people around the world, Save the Dogs will be able to continue this life-saving work.
Thank you so much for your efforts. So much gratitude from Australia
I will continue to support the strays and shelter cats and dogs and the special Ukrainian people who have been brutalized by VP, the most evil of men. God bless you all and all forms of life in Ukraine.