Our Story:
As you know, I’ve been involved in Ukraine for many years now. First as the CEO of JKX (LSE:JKX), one of the only public companies in Ukraine’s energy sector, and since 2019 through Alpha Energy, (www.alpha.energy) which owns the rights to over 500,000 acres of oil and gas resources in the Chernigov region of Ukraine. When this war started, I was both surprised and deeply disappointed with unconscionable path chosen by Russia and Putin. I know from personal experience that Ukrainians, for all their difficulties in nation building over the last several decades, genuinely want independence for their country and are not in any way a threat to Russia or the Russian people. Ukrainians want to live as a free people in a country based on human rights, values and rule of law. They will achieve this goal, and have made much progress in recent years. This war, despite the horrors and the hardship, will only accelerate their progress. My partners and I will help where we can, with energy independence as our first priority, but with direct humanitarian assistance as well.
Civilian SUVs and trucks are playing a vital role in the humanitarian and military effort in Ukraine. They are used to transport troops, stage supplies, deliver medicine and equipment, and by frontline units to engage their enemy. Vehicles are in short supply and urgently needed. Our good friends (and Alpha legal counsel) in London began purchasing trucks in March and filling them with medicine, bandages, boots, and other supplies. They drove the first trucks themselves to the Polish border and delivered them directly to frontline soldiers who drive them further East to deliver the medical supplies and re-enter combat operations. Since then, we have built a network of volunteers to drive them from London and other parts of Europe to the Polish border, raised nearly $1m in additional funds, and purchased and delivered over 90 trucks laden with supplies. Below this message are a few photos of the vehicles and their recipients. These vehicles go straight from our team to those that need them most, and that means that we lose both trucks and men from time to time. It’s as real as it gets for our recipients and we want to continue to help them.
Donating to this cause, and asking others to do the same, also gave me reason to revive the Envolved Foundation, a Texas registered 501c3. Envolved is a Donor Advised Fund, with the long-term goal of becoming a ‘meta-charity’ and providing a personal foundation to everyone. Think of it initially as the Robinhood or Etrade or Masterworks of charitable giving, with low entry costs, user-friendly and mobile-based dashboards, and tools allowing anyone to ‘get Envolved’ in their personal causes and communities through their own virtual foundation. While primitive today, we will add tools, content, and other features as we grow both resources and users.
Trucks for the Boys is an active campaign on the Envolved platform and 100% of all donations made through the below link will go to this campaign. Your donation also creates a (very rudimentary for now) personal foundation for yourself, for free, and your donation is fully deductible from US taxes. Please donate so that we can continue to support Ukraine with vehicles and supplies, and I promise we will be back to you in the future with improved dashboards and tools for your virtual foundations.
All the best,
Tom
