File:Love for Ukraine (51938741820).jpg

It’s a Monday evening for me, yet time has lost all traditional meaning for those fighting in Ukraine and those fleeing, besieged and tormented. Once again, I show my solidarity towards Ukraine and their plight by creating a photograph, and once again I dedicate this image to the Public Domain. Anyone can use this image in any way they like without license, permission, or credit to me. I encourage all artists to use their craft to create symbols of support for Ukraine. It’s easy to feel powerless but we can all utilize our skills and opportunities to help.

In my previous post, I had mentioned that my wife and I had run a car-load of food to the refugee centre here in Varna, Bulgaria. Knowing that I had a way to directly help, a number of people contacted me to see if there was a way to donate towards the cost of these groceries. We’ve done two trips so far with a third planned for tomorrow morning. If anyone wants to contribute, I’d be happy to run multiple trips a week or more. I’m not a charity and cannot provide you with tax receipts, and you’d have to trust me with your money.

I’m just a stranger on the Internet for most people reading this, and you absolutely shouldn’t trust a stranger with your money. You can find a list of charities doing good work in Ukraine here: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/09/heres-a-list-of-top-rated-charities-to-help-the-ukraine-relief-effort.html" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.cnbc.com/2022/03/09/heres-a-list-of-top-rated-chariti...</a> . And there is a video on that page that specifically states to avoid charity scams by staying away from individual appeals. Even still, if you know me personally and you’d like to help my efforts, I’d welcome it. Thank you so much to those who have offered help already.

If you are in Canada and wish to eTransfer funds to me, you can send it to don.komarechka@gmail.com . If you are anywhere else and wish to use PayPal, send the funds to don@komarechka.com with a note “Donation for Ukraine refugee aid” so I can properly sort all the donations that come in. The food we’re supplying is the kind that doesn’t require a lot of prep work: fruits, canned fish, cured meats, juice etc. that doesn’t require a kitchen to prepare. After tomorrow’s grocery run, we will ask a coordinator what they need the most, and then go out and source exactly that. We’ve also picked up some art supplies for the kids.

This image was created in a similar way to one I shot for Earth Day last year ( <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/donkom/51148150819/">www.flickr.com/photos/donkom/51148150819/</a> ). Gerbera daisy petals bent into the shape of a heart, with a droplet at the center. In this case, using the same blue and yellow construction paper as a backdrop. These petals are tricky to work with – they were wrapped around a small cylinder (the protecting cap for the hypodermic needle I use to place the droplet worked well) and kept tightly wound for a half an hour. They kept the curve I needed to put them together, but they were still too “springy”. A tiny dot of superglue was used to hold them together; nothing like a bit of foreign aid to help out, right? At first the image had a wider crop, but I decided to make the heart shape interact with all the edges of the frame, creating strong trigonal geometry and bringing more focus to the delicate, dangling drop.

Ukraine’s war for the right to exist is at a very pivotal point. I feel more and more like Ukraine’s allies need to step up further and stop the lawless, soulless, catastrophic destruction of life. I won’t tell you what to think, but I would suggest letting your elected government officials know your thoughts. It’s one thing to opine on social media, but it’s another to write influential letters to those who can take greater action than any individual. The world has become a “global village”, and it’s one of the reasons why my family and I moved to Eastern Europe. The actions of many nations have indicated that this is also a global fight. It’s a war unlike any other in history with incredible worldwide aid for Ukraine and sanctions for Russia that are unprecedented. As a global fight unlike any other, we must all think differently. I will not be a passive bystander when my actions can make a difference in the biggest human tragedy of my existence.