Two separate donation drives to assist Ukraine brought an outpouring of donations over the past weekend in Manhattan Beach.
One local drive was managed by Manhattan Beach residents Mary Yollin and Kathryn Chen in cooperation with Los Angeles-based Ukranian doctor Svetlana Pilyugina. The drive resulted in three SUVs packed to the brim with donations of food, clothing and medical supplies.
A second drive, led by
Yoga Loft owner Justin Randolph, yielded 225 yoga mats (for sleeping on or placing under sleeping bags), plus sleeping bags and 60 bags of medical supplies and toiletries.
"It was so nice to see the whole community come together," said Yollin. "The common theme was, 'We want to do something but we don’t know what to do.' So people would come in with their donations and say, 'This seems like the least I could do.'"
Donation Drive Fills Three SUVs
After learning from Chen about the request for aid, Yollin connected with Chen and then Pilyugina, who has been leading
a donation drive for humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Yollin volunteered her driveway as a drop-off and collection site.
The request called for medical supplies, mother-and-baby items, sleeping bags, and nonperishable foods. It circulated quickly among various Manhattan Beach residents' groups and message boards. The Manhattan Beach-based mother-son charitable organization Amigos Unidos also took on the cause, calling on its members to donate to the drive.
On Saturday, people just kept coming and coming, said Yollin. "It was amazing. My whole driveway was filled with items," she added.
One family who owned a children's clothing company donated about 300 brand-new items, said Yollin. Another resident ordered sleeping bags from Amazon and had them delivered straight to Yollin's house. (The donation also yielded 18 bags of stuffed animals, which the aid convoy was not able to take, but which is now on its way to a pediatric hospital.)
With Yollin's family and neighbors working together, the team organized the items and got them ready for pickup. And when the Ukranian volunteers came to pick up the donations, they filled three SUVs "to the brim," said Yollin. "There was no spot that we didn’t fit something in."
The donations have now been transported to a distribution site, where they will be flown to Ukraine.
Request Yields Yoga Mats, Other Supplies
Yoga Loft's Randolph said that a private Manhattan Beach resident who is associated with the Ukranian church of Silverlake had reached out to him with a request for yoga mats for people to sleep on.
"We stepped up and organized and gathered as much as we could," said Randolph, who put out a personal request through email and social media.
The response was indeed overwhelming in just one day with more than two hundred yoga mats collected - including 50 mats donated by Yoga Loft - plus scores of bags of supplies and other items that are now on their way to Ukraine.
"Thank you for taking your yoga
off the mat and giving back during a time when it is so very needed," said Randolph in a message to donors. "Someone who NEEDS to sleep will find themselves sleeping on your mat."
