TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A charity organization in Taiwan announced over the weekend that events aimed at crowdsourcing enough funds to buy a secondhand ambulance for Ukraine surpassed expectations, enough to purchase a second ambulance and possibly more.
On Saturday (June 10), "Taiwan Stands With Ukraine" (TSWU) said its original goal over the weekend of May 6-7 at the Europe Festival, which took place at the Huashan 1914 Creative Park, was to raise NT$300,000 (US$9,700) for one used ambulance. However, through the sales of merchandise and charity donations, the group raised NT$576,000 at the two-day event.
Group organizer Alex Khomenko told Taiwan News that the charity has used the funds to purchase two secondhand ambulances via OBOZ — Humanitäre Hilfe für die Ukraine e.V, a German-Ukrainian nonprofit organization that obtains ambulances from across Europe to send to Ukraine. One of the ambulances, which cost 11,400 Euros, has already been delivered to the city of Rivne's Regional Clinical Hospital.
Khomenko said that the second ambulance cost 14,200 Euros and is slated to depart Germany on Sunday (Jun 11) for delivery to the Municipal Multi-field Clinical Hospital No.4 in Dnipro.
"Taiwan Stands With Ukraine" logo can be seen on ambulance destined for Dnipro. (OBOZ photo)
He said the group had also raised NT$140,000 at a previous event at MAJI Square in Taipei and Swedish Youtuber Lukas Engström has been able to raise NT$113,000 in donations. These funds combined with additional donations garnered by the group since the Europe Festival bring the total to NT$850,000.
According to Khomenko, the group is now considering buying a third ambulance or other equipment that may be needed in the wake of the devastating flooding following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.
He said TSWU members can be seen protesting against the war in front of the Moscow-Taipei Coordination Commission on Economic and Cultural Cooperation in Taipei on Mondays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. The group also sells merchandise, such as t-shirts, to raise funds for Ukraine at the popup market on Saturday afternoons in front of Bar FEST in Taipei's Gongguan commercial district.
For more information, please visit the Taiwan Stands with Ukraine official Facebook page.