THE BEGINNING

In late February 2022, Bill Hayes had seen many news reports of Ukrainian refugees, primarily women and children, flooding the border with Poland, but their husbands, sons and fathers turning around to defend their country.  After donating to an international charity and calling various charities to volunteer and getting nowhere, and feeling no involvement, he decided to go to Poland, lend a hand and help the Ukrainian refugees.  Bill and son Rob, and a friend from University days, Willard Boss, travelled to Krakow from the USA in April 2022 to do what they could, by renting a van and offering help.  Now, after over three years of delivering humanitarian aid and assistance in both Poland and Ukraine, Bill and Frank Donnelly continue humanitarian efforts through Mission For Ukraine LLC.   What was intended as a short term trip to Poland has turned into a long-term commitment and dedication to Ukrainian refugees and Ukrainians injured by the war.   Of course, none of this would have been possible without donations from over 600 caring friends and family.

The only plan for the first trip to Poland in April 2022 was to deliver backpacks and duffle bags to refugees and provide transportation for women and children who needed transport from the border.   Their plans changed when they arrived in Krakow.  Before leaving the US, they were connected with a young Polish man who became their guide, connector and guardian angel.  Karol Kras is still working with Mission for Ukraine today.   The Mission’s guiding principle was and remains that it will be “100% direct aid” and donations will be used solely for the purpose of buying supplies, food, equipment, transportation, and whatever else might be needed by Ukrainian refugees or those in need in Ukraine.  We do not provide military gear or equipment, other than medical supplies.  This is true today as Mission for Ukraine is a two-person “non-organization” with no overhead and all travel and accommodation costs are paid by Bill and Frank.  The Mission is not a US tax 501(c)(3), as that would require more overhead.   

Throughout the remainder of 2022, with the war still raging in Ukraine, Bill and a friend from Wyoming, John Carey and later, Frank continued going to Poland and into Ukraine to deliver goods and food and to ensure that their aid was being delivered where needed.  Over the course of about 18 months, the Mission bought and shipped 80 pallets of food – from stews and soups to canned beans and macaroni, to coffee, salt and sugar – into Ukraine.   In addition, the Mission contracted a Polish company to make over 7,500 high calorie and high protein ready to eat meals in pouches, which could feed two people (15,000 meals).  The Mission worked with their Ukrainian partner in Lviv (Palianytsia) to deliver food boxes (with food from pallets) and pouches to villages in Ukraine.  Working with another US volunteer, the Mission established a warehouse facility on the Polish-Ukrainian border to receive hundreds of tons of donated goods from Europe.  This food, goods, medical and other equipment, blankets, clothes, and pet food were offloaded at the warehouse and later sent by van and smaller trucks into Ukraine, primarily into areas recently reconquered by Ukraine.   As a part of this, the Mission purchased two vans, a Renault delivery truck, an ambulance, a firetruck, and a city bus.  The firetruck was used to deliver drinking water to those towns and villages where the Russians had destroyed their water systems.  The ambulance was later used as a mobile pharmacy by Ukrainian doctors and by American volunteers to evacuate elderly people from their basement homes on the front line.   

Working in Warsaw, the Mission assisted with art classes at the Modalinksa Refugee Center, which in 2022 through 2023, housed 4,500 women, children and elderly men.   Several hundred younger Ukrainian children were going to a school in the building, run by Love Does, an American charity.   Bill and Frank were introduced to an art therapy teacher, Lilia Stadnik, a refugee from Kherson. The Mission agreed to support Lilia’s art therapy program for refugee mothers and children.  The Mission secured free space on the ground floor in Hines Poland’s Wola Center in central Warsaw.  The Mission  purchased all of the easels, paints, equipment and supplies for Lilia to begin her art therapy classes at the Wola Center.   The Mission later engaged Lyudmyla, a refugee from Mariupol, to teach art therapy.  The Mission also supports a woodworking class for adults and children, which is taught by Lilia’s fiancée, Leszek, who is Polish, several times per week.

Our Mission met with the Love Does School in early 2023.  This is a school for Ukrainian children who cannot afford to go to the Ukrainian schools in Warsaw and who do not want to attend the Polish schools as the Ukrainian children have experienced bullying and learning challenges.  Love Does school is a cooperation between Life Polska Church – Warsaw and Love Does (as US-based charity).

Over time, as it became easier to transport goods and equipment into Ukraine, with lorries able to travel deep into Ukraine, the Mission realized it needed to plan for more impactful and longer-term projects, including those for a post-war Ukraine.  Frank and Bill were introduced to Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, both located in Houston, Texas.  The two institutions wanted to do something in Ukraine, but were uncertain how to proceed.   With the Mission’s guidance, trips were made to Warsaw, Łódź and Lviv to locate potential projects in surgery, neonatal, OB-GYN, and prosthetics.   Ultimately, after aerial attacks on Lviv, another Ukrainian hospital was found on the Slovakia border.  At that time, Baylor’s Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Department became involved.   They sourced a 3D printer made in the United States at a reasonable cost to print sockets for below-knee amputees.  The Mission bought and shipped the 3D printer to Ukraine where it is now installed at the Transcarpathian Regional Clinic Hospital in Uzhhorod, Ukraine.    

TODAY

From a simple beginning, to provide aid to Ukrainian refugees where needed, the Mission has grown and now provides support and guidance for these programs:

Ukraine Activities

Prosthetic Clinic:

In Ukraine, the need for prosthetic limbs is immense, with an estimated 40,000 below-knee amputees (men, women and children).  Thousands more of other types of amputees are also in need of care.  It is also estimated that only about 600 new prosthetic devices were made in 2024 in all of Ukraine.

Since November 2023, our Mission has been working with Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) – both based in Houston, Texas – to open a clinic for prosthetic 3D manufacture as well as fitting and rehabilitation at our partner hospital, Transcarpathian Regional Clinic Hospital (TCRH) in Uzhhorod, Ukraine.  The other key partners are Invent Medical (Ostrava, Czech Republic) and Filaments Innovation (Pennsylvania), now owned by Proteor (France).  TCRH has completely refurbished two areas to accommodate the prosthetic 3D printing and fitting as well rehabilitation.  A Texas charitable organization, Direct Aid, provided all the new rehab equipment.  In June 2024, our Mission purchased and shipped the “Icarus” 3D printer from Pennsylvania to Invent Medical and they tested and fine tuned their proprietary software for scanning limbs and proper fitting.  Importantly, working with Filaments and BCM, Invent was able to improve on the plastic filament material used in the printer to create the socket.  Our Mission funded training for TRCH’s technicians and rehabilitation experts to be trained by BCM and Invent Medical in the Czech Republic in late 2025.  The total cost for a new prosthetic, with all the parts, will be about $400 per patient, or one-tenth of the cost of existing prosthetic making methods. Our Mission hired a US volunteer to live in Uzhhorod to coordinate the efforts of the various stakeholders, which was a huge help. 

In late 2024, the TRCH prosthetic clinic began making below-knee prosthetics for amputees.  BCM set a goal of 25 to 30 “successful” prosthetics for patients to conclude that the process works and this was achieved in June 2025. BCM declared the pilot project a success.  In this event, the plan was add a 3D printer or more in Uzhhorod and expand to other hospitals in Ukraine.   

We are now focused on expansion.  In October 2025, our Mission signed an MOU with Proteor Printing Solutions to add five more printers in areas in western Ukraine.  Proteor developed a new “Icarus Lite” printer that costs $25,000 (half the costs of the original printer we purchased) and is equally proficient at making sockets.  Currently, the Proteor printer is one of the fastest of a few dozen 3D printers in Ukraine and can produce a “socket” in two hours. Other printers require around 18 to 24 hours. The entire process to scan, 3D print and fit a patient with a new prosthetic leg takes about four hours, whereas, the traditional method, using plaster molds, can take several days. Under the MOU, our Mission will donate five printers and, for each printer we donate, Proteor will donate $5,000 worth of equipment and one week of training for clinic

Mukachevo Pediatric Hospital:

Our Mission has provided support for this hospital, located about 40 miles from Uzhhorod.  In 2024, we funded the travel and accommodations for Dr. Yuriy Demyan, an orthopedic surgeon, to come to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston to witness a significant operation on a patient of his, a three-year old Ukrainian boy.  This procedure was a success, and the young boy is now completely mobile with a new prosthetic leg.  Dr. Demyan also spent considerable time in the operating theaters at TCH and Baylor College of Medicine observing dozens of pediatric orthopedic surgeries.  Our mission is now funding the renovation of a bath/treatment room for pediatric patients at the Hospital.   As we develop a deeper relationship, our funding may be used for renovation of other parts of the hospital, including patient rooms and operating theater, all of which were constructed during the Soviet Union era. 

Warsaw Activities

Art Therapy:

The Mission supports multiple painting, crafts classes and woodworking in our art therapy programs with the three teachers.  Lilia teaches art therapy two days per week for students at the Love Does School and held art therapy classes five to days a week at Hines Wola Center.  In October 2025, Lilia and Leszek moved from the Wola Center to new, ground floor space in central Warsaw.   Luydmyla teaches five days a week at three Ukrainian schools in Warsaw and provides classes on Saturday at the Museum of History of Polish Jews (POLIN).  Lyudmyla also organizes summer camps for many of her students and these camps provide arts and crafts for the children five days per week.  Leszek expanded our art therapy classes for Ukrainian refugee women and children and families with the woodworking classes held several days a week.  Both Lilia and Leszek also hold their classes at the POLIN Museum.  Altogether, the Mission’s art therapy classes touch about 250 women and children each week.  The women and children, who come together to enjoy companionship with fellow Ukrainians in a stress-free and creative environment, are all extremely grateful for the Mission’s art therapy classes. Our Mission has witnessed and heard from many adults and children about their art therapy experience and how it has positively affected their lives.  In addition, Lilia, Lyudmyla and Leszek have also been rewarded as teachers in delivering hope and love to so many.   Importantly, Lilia and Lyudmyla have been able to deal with their own trauma from the war. 

Life Polska Foundation / Love Does Schools: 

About 220 Ukrainian refugee children attend two schools (K – 12) managed by Love Does and many are on the waiting list.  The Mission provides a monthly financial donation to support hot lunches five days per week for all the refugee children.  Without that, many students would not have a lunch every day.   The Mission also supports the school’s physical education/sports/dance class and the school’s “Summer in the City” program so the children and young adults remain active when school is closed.  We also funded a scholarship for one of the 2025 graduates to attend Warsaw University.

Radiant Hope: 

We began supporting RadiantHope on a six-month pilot project in May 2025 to bring trauma therapy and trauma therapy practices to Ukrainian caregivers and youth in Warsaw and Łódź.   RadiantHope is managed by Courtney Lauderdale, an American who has been active in delivering trauma care in India and Romania over the last 15 years.  She moved to Warsaw in 2024.  One of the biggest issues facing Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees is the prevalence of PTSD and other traumas from the war and displacement.  RadiantHope’s success in trauma care thus far has exceeded our expectations and we are expanding the program.  RadiantHope is working with teachers at the Love Does Schools as well as caregivers for approximately 1,500 Ukrainian orphans cared for by LifeSong (USA) and around 1,000 Ukrainian orphans cared for by Happy Kids (Polish).  We are planning to expand Courtney’s ability to reach more caregivers and teachers and, ultimately, the children.  This may lead to a web-based program of trauma care.   

Medical Volunteers: 

Our Mission supports “Foundation in the Meantime.” This is a group of Polish and international volunteer medics who have been working on the Ukrainian frontlines since 2014, when Russia initially invaded eastern Ukraine. They provide life-saving aid to military personnel in fiercely contested battle areas.  Our Mission has supported them in the past by purchasing medical equipment and hosted them to fundraise in Texas.  With financial donations from an American volunteer, his supporters and our Mission, we have purchased over $30,000 worth of medical equipment. 

Other Activity

Fair Dog Denmark:

This is a volunteer women’s group that collects hundreds of tons of donations in Denmark and neighboring countries and transports it all to Ukraine.  When Fair Dog needed a sealed container to store pet and human food in their barn, or be closed down by the authorities, one of our donors bought and sent a ten-foot container to Fair Dog.  The donor also provided a second container when needed.  Our Mission periodically provides financial support to pay for lorries to send the goods and supplies donated to Fair Dog into eastern Ukraine for distribution.