The York East Rotary Club voted to donate over $5,000 to disaster relief for refugees fleeing Ukraine due to the recent invasion of Russian military forces. The first $2,500 of member donations was matched by the club.
The club's president, Sandi Graham, issued the challenge to club and community members to add to the fund. The club said that the money raised by the Rotary International Foundation will be used to disburse funds in Ukraine and in countries bordering Ukraine who are providing water, food, medicine and clothing to refugees.
 
With 46,000 clubs across the globe, Rotary is one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations, and has made peace the cornerstone of its global mission.  Our club is joining other Rotary clubs in our region in supporting this effort. We are hopeful that even those who are not members of our club will recognize they have an opportunity to directly help the mostly women and children who are fleeing for their lives. Many may be wondering how to help. You don't have to be a Rotary member to donate to this effort.
 
Direct donations can be made at https://my.rotary.org/en/disaster-response-fund.
 
The United Nations has estimated that millions of people have already fled Ukraine to avoid the devastation caused by the advance of Russian troops, the club said.