Ukraine Defense Support has delivered more than 20 tons of medical supplies and equipment to Ukraine since its founding in mid-2022. Nearly all of it was sent thanks to the remarkable dedication and indomitable spirit of Pam Dalan, one of UDS’s co-founders and a school nurse.
Pam credits her Christian faith and the many volunteers who have stepped forward to help with the collection, cataloging, and shipment of each pallet of critically needed supplies. Nearly every shipment begins with Pam’s leadership and reaches its destination because of her careful stewardship along its journey to Ukraine.
“How amazing that God would use me, a 74½ year-old, to be able to get these supplies to Ukraine. It started as a bread-crumb trail with six sacks of trauma first aid supplies, to now, over 3½ years later, we just sent nine tons of healthcare products from closed drug stores. All together, we’ve sent well over 20 tons,” she said.
Over these four-plus years, warehouse donors, medical supply donors, shipping donors, and the donors who answered the call on our website to contribute thousands, have made it possible for pallet after pallet, and sometimes suitcase after suitcase, of equipment to reach Ukraine. Equipment like patient monitors, oxygen concentrators, and other critical supplies go where they are needed most, like frontline stabilization points across frontline areas.
The country’s healthcare system continues to face immense pressure as wounded soldiers arrive from the frontlines and russia brutally attacks civilians day and night. Some of the supplies UDS has shipped were brand new and destined for landfills if not intercepted by Pam and a dedicated UDS team intent on rescuing perfectly good supplies so they could be sent where needed most.
“I am a woman with no fighting ability and the wrong age. But, when my cousin [who went to Ukraine to help] first explained that the invasion was happening and how lopsided and cruel the result would be, I wanted to get to Ukraine and help with my bare hands if necessary,” Pam said.
Instead, she and other UDS volunteers learned how to help in very important and meaningful ways. In doing so, they have helped save lives while channeling the collective energy and goodwill of scores of people, each determined to make a positive difference for Ukraine.
