The generator that started it all! The shelter outside of Lviv was the inspiration for founding Direct Effect. Rachel and David committed to supporting this shelter with all of their needs through the end of the war. While back in the US, we wrote to the founders of the shelter to check in and see if they had all of their needs met, as Winter was fast approaching. They had requested a few items, including generators. We made a trip over to Ukraine to deliver essential supplies and two 5KW generators. While there, someone helping with some construction on the site saw the 5KW generators and informed us that those would only cover the kitchen and maybe a few other rooms, and what they really needed was a 40KW generator to power the whole building. The shelter houses 95+ women and children, and we could not leave them cold and in the dark for the Winter. DEAN snapped into action, raising $30,000, sourcing the generator from Germany, and delivering back to the shelter all within 10 days. The look on their faces when we returned with the generator was priceless, and the immediate impact the generator made was abundantly clear. This was an ah-ha moment for us, realizing that the biggest impact we could make with Winter approaching was to find more generators for other Ukrainians in need.
