Supporting the incredible work of charitable organisations is very important to us at Rendall & Rittner. Many of our team are passionate about philanthropic causes, and it is fantastic for us to be able to work together to support initiatives that are important to our people. Following staff involvement with Ukrainian Action, we are therefore proud to be sponsoring six trucks of humanitarian aid to Ukraine this October, which will all be driven by Rendall & Rittner volunteers and filled with donations from our people and clients.
We were first made aware of the work of Ukrainian Action, a volunteer-run charity that is focused on sending help to citizens of the war-torn country, by our Area Director, Elisa Keating. Elisa was on sabbatical when the war broke out and wanted to do something to help.
Elisa Keating comments: “The war broke out while I was on sabbatical in 2022, I felt incredibly grateful for the time I was given and was renting an apartment in Portugal at the time. A friend of mine had told me about his friend Jeff Hartman who was driving trucks at the weekend. I was put in touch with him and offered my help with admin for procurement and the logistics. After the charity was formed it expanded rapidly through a network of friends. When I returned from sabbatical, I continued overseeing the logistics of each convoy and I spoke to my Director, Daniel Steer, about the work and he was very supportive and keen to get involved.”
Seeing the enthusiasm that Elisa had for the organisation and hearing more about her involvement, Daniel decided to take part in a convoy himself in December 2022, driving a vehicle out to the Ukrainian border. Daniel and Elisa have since been instrumental in organising for a team of Rendall & Rittner volunteers to participate in a convoy this Autumn.
Daniel Steer comments: “We’ve seen the horrors of the war in Ukraine on the news for the past 18 months, so when Elisa told me about her involvement with Ukrainian Action, I was keen to get involved and show my support. Driving out to the Ukrainian border last winter really brought home to me the situation and living conditions for normal Ukrainian citizens, a humbling experience I will never forget. I’m grateful that the R&R Board is generously supplying funding towards a convoy this autumn and we hope that our clients and colleagues will also help us in fundraising and donating items.”
Since March 2022, Ukrainian Action has completed over 40 convoys to Ukraine, delivering more than 200 vehicles filled with donations. In addition to the six trucks of aid that we are sponsoring to support displaced Ukrainians facing the prospect of another winter of power outages and instability, we are raising funds to further support this charity.
We will be posting updates of the team’s journey on our LinkedIn page. If you would like to make a donation to support the work of Ukrainian Action, please visit the Just Giving page. Thank you to everyone who has supported the team so far.
