'Resistance from a distance': Toronto couple behind massive effort to send aid to Ukraine

A Toronto couple has turned their advertising studio into a hub for hundreds of thousands of donations, all bound for Ukraine and Ukrainians who've fled their country.

"We've got heaps of things arriving," donations co-organizer Blaine Pearson told CTV National News. "And tons of volunteers who've pitched in to help sort and repack items."

Pearson and her husband Jason van Bruggen run Toronto ad agency Dot Dot Dash. They're leading an effort to fill a cargo plane with supplies, some of which are set for refugees who've fled to Poland, while others are bound for the front lines in Ukraine.

On Feb. 25, less than 48 hours after Russia's invasion began, the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR estimated more than 50,000 people had fled Ukraine.

Just over two weeks later, the UN now estimates that there are at least 1.85 million people displaced within Ukraine and 12.65 million people directly affected by the conflict.

Meanwhile, the number of refugees in countries neighbouring Ukraine has exceeded 2.5 million, the UNHCR said, and as those numbers increased, needs changed.

"We've gone from food supplies and warm clothing last week, which were in demand, now to only really critical first aid supplies," van Bruggen said. "Body armour is the current priority."

Van Bruggen, who has a background in military contract work and has been in warzones in Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan, said he has seen human suffering on a large scale. He said when the conflict broke out, his first thought was to take a more direct approach.

"My first instinct was to go over there and help fight, to join the conflict in some useful way," van Bruggen said. "But it struck me that rather than put myself on the plane, I could put a lot of things that were needed on the plane."

Pearson and van Bruggen put out the call for donations a week ago as part of what they're calling a "resistance from a distance," and have now received so many they've already filled and emptied their office twice.

They're now storing donations in a warehouse until they can be loaded on the plane and shipped off to refugees and to the front line.

"It's become a round-the-clock, full-time job for the two of us, but happily so," Pearson said. "I think people are looking for a way to contribute and I think it's a beautiful to see."

Get in touch

Are you in Ukraine? Do you have family in Ukraine? Are you or your family affected? Email [e-mail].