A fundraising initiative launched earlier this year by a group of volunteers in Ukraine uses stamps and postcards to support the country’s defence against Russia.
Through UA Postcards at uapostcards.org, people can buy handwritten postcards that are then mailed – anywhere in the world – using stamps highlighting Ukrainian history and culture. The fundraisers, who work with Ukrainian military units, hospitals and charitable foundations, use the profits to buy non-lethal supplies for the country’s soldiers and citizens.
“If the U.S. invaded Canada, or England invaded Wales, we would hope the free world helped the invaded,” said Vancouver dealer Brian Grant Duff, who petitioned Canada Post this spring to issue an emergency semi-postal stamp to support Ukrainian refugees. “The world is becoming too much like (English writer George) Orwell’s 1984. Stamps and postcards still have a job to do.”
The postcards are mailed from Ukraine using Ukrposhta, the country’s national postal service. People can choose between eight Ukrainian stamps and a written message – either a thank you message from the fundraisers or a custom message of your own – or no text.