When Boyd Byelich launched One Box for Ukraine to aid Ukrainian refugees, nothing could get in his way.
“I started in May with clothing,” said Byelich. “96 boxes have been sent so far, and they’ve all arrived.”
Byelich's health had been failing for nearly two years up to that point. It even stopped him from visiting his two children in Wyoming last year.
“It was bad leading up to last Christmas,” Byelich said. “After Christmas, it started improving. All the doctors threw up their hands and said, ‘What is going on?’ They had no explanation. By mid-January, I knew I was being prepped for something.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine at 5 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, calling it a “special military operation.”.
On March 2, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi Tweeted: “In just seven days we have witnessed the exodus of one million refugees from Ukraine to neighboring countries.”
The next day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Ukraine Tweeted the loss of approximately 9,000 Ukrainian personnel.
"It hit me – 'This is what you are supposed to do,'” said Byelich, committing himself to aiding displaced Ukrainians.
But what could Byelich, a US Department of Agriculture employee and beef farmer, do to make a difference?
He started One Box for Ukraine, collecting donations from more than 100 people throughout Northern Michigan. His house in Roger City currently sits packed full of clothing boxes.
“It is impressive to look at it,” Byelich said. “I have been very surprised and amazed at how many people have stepped up and said, ‘Hey, I want to do something.’ I just got off the phone with a lady in Kinross who has a lot of clothing she wants to donate. I have received probably five to six car loads of donations from Newberry, Rudyard, and Sault Ste. Marie.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has advised against all travel to Ukraine, due to ongoing attacks in major cities and the several southern and eastern cities "temporarily" under Russian control. This warning did not stop Byelich from traveling to Lviv, Ukraine.
“I no longer needed to be by medical facilities,” Byelich said, hopping a plane to Krakow, Poland.
He posted the following to the One Box for Ukraine Facebook page on May 5:
“I want to share with you my story of volunteering in Krakow, Poland to assist some of the 300,000 Ukrainians currently staying there. I was there from April 15-28. A week ago today, I was on a plane from Krakow to Amsterdam to Detroit to Alpena. For five days, I helped World Central Kitchen prepare and serve about 2,000 hot meals a day. The other seven days were with International Bund at a clothing distribution center where volunteers from about 25 countries sort, organize, and distribute donated clothing to Ukrainian people. On average, about 1,100 people came to the center each day and about 9,000 items of clothing were given out each day. You can imagine how the mountains of donated clothes disappeared very fast.”
To date, UNHCR estimates there to be 6.9 million internally displaced Ukrainians and 7.2 million refugees.
Byelich’s return has helped educate neighbors, friends, and family about the Ukrainian people.
During his travels, he met with numerous Ukrainian refugees. Many shared their stories. They showed him pictures and videos of destruction from their cell phones.
“I also witnessed the phenomenal generosity of the Polish people in donating mountains of new and good condition used shoes and clothing,” said Byelich, who began working with Amerpol Enterprises of Troy, MI to cost effectively ship boxes of supplies to Poland.
One Box for Ukraine held its first local fundraiser at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Rogers City on June 12. Jessica Chandler and Robin Grainger helped coordinate a speghetti dinner.
Byelich called it a “huge success,” drawing in around 84 people to raise approximately $1,775. They also collected 14 more boxes of clothing. By July 31, a total of 88 boxes had already been shipped to Krakow to which Byelich returned on Aug. 10.
“We are seeing about 500 beneficiaries each day, which is half of what we had in April, but still giving out about 5,000 to 6,000 items each day,” he said in August.
Byelich teamed up with a Polish volunteer group to provide bandages and clothing to wounded soldiers. They also delivered school supplies to students, and food and hygiene products to those with special needs.
“We went to five supermarkets to fill this van with rice, buckwheat, canned corn, peas, kidney beans, tomatoes, fruit, shampoo, and soap,” said Byelich.
A couple days later, he and three other volunteers delivered “junk food and candy” to an estimated 200 children at two different refugee camps in Lviv.
Byelich thought ahead to Christmas and wanted to do more to help them, launching Santa's Shoebox just yeaterday.
“The goal is to fill 2,000 shoeboxes with small toys, etc. for kids in the hardest hit areas in eastern Ukraine,” said Bylich. “We will ship them to Krakow by Dec. 15, and then take them into Ukraine and deliver them by Christmas."
Check out this link to Samaritan’s Purse for suggested Christmas donation items.
“Please let me know if you have suggestions or ideas on how to make this a success,” Byelich said.
Find One Box on GoFundMe to make a donation. The page is currently up to $1,925 in monetary donations.
Byelich can be emailed at [email protected]
