February 17, 2026

News from the latest Crates For Ukraine 5.0 effort

February 17, 2026

On Saturday, we packed 50 Wound Care 5.0 crates for Ukraine at PCPC. For the first time, we had Ukrainians among our volunteer packers! Three of them live in the neighborhood and have been visiting our church with some of our members. Three more (Veronika, Tais and Volodymyr) are staying in the U.S. for a few days in Dallas with some other PCPC members and planning a golf tournament for disabled veterans (Ukrainian and American) sponsored by the Borderlands Foundation.

After packing for twenty or so minutes, Veronika (who speaks English) came over to me to tell me that Volodymyr was emotional as he packed our wound care supplies in a crate and wanted to tell me something. Volovdmyr was wounded in the war in 2024 and lost his left arm. As Veronika translated, Volodymyr told me that every item in our wound care crate was an item that was used to save his life.

Volovdmyr told me that when he was injured, these supplies were the line between life and death: CAT tourniquets, multiple Israeli bandages, a SAM splint to stabilize fractures, occlusive chest seals – and many other items. In that moment, they were not simply medical tools – they were his chance to survive.

He said that every item on that list represents life. A chance to return home. Lives saved – both soldiers and civilians.

That is why these shipments matter.

I later learned he was in the hospital and rehab for nine months and had over 20 surgeries. He wanted us to know how important packing and sending these types of crates is to the people of Ukraine and particularly the Ukrainian soldiers. More importantly, he wanted us to know what high quality the items we are sending are. He was very impressed with the quality and said that often items they receive donated supplies that just don’t work as well or even at all.

Volodymyr also served as a paramedic on the front lines, so he understands firsthand the real value of these supplies in combat conditions. For him, these are not simply medical kits or humanitarian aid – they are tools that quite literally determine whether someone lives or dies in the most critical moments. Everything packed into those boxes is something he personally used on the front lines, when seconds truly mattered. These were the tools he relied on to stop bleeding, stabilize the wounded, and help civilians in frontline towns and villages.

We stopped packing for a few minutes, and everyone listened to his story. I was able to explain to the packers (many of whom had donated thousands of dollars to CFU) that what Volodymyr told us about the high-quality supplies was part of the reason we had switched from accepting wound care supplies purchased haphazardly by donors on Amazon to asking for donations so we could purchase high-quality supplies directly from North American Rescue.

It was a blessing to hear directly from someone whose life was so affected by donations like those provided in Crates for Ukraine.