501 is about people. And communities. And serving one another. And to do that, we must have sustainable, growing relationships.

On that note, 501 is headed back to Romania and Ukraine for the holidays!

One of the things we love the most about our partners in Romania and Ukraine is that it does not matter your religion, nationality, race, gender… it’s just that you’re a person. Someone who deserves love, care, safety, and a future.

One of the things heard often on trips with 501 Collective is, “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

Whenever a 501 Collective team goes into another country, it’s because of relationships. Nothing is done with a ‘hero’ mentality but with a partnership with those on the ground.

To know 501 Collective is to know the people who are a part of it. While many organizations and non-profits are about the organization itself or image or finances or whatever thing so easily creeps in to take away the focus… 501 Collective is simple, it’s about the people. The people we seek to serve and the people, like you, who are a part of doing good everywhere.

While serving with Fight for Freedom at a food distribution location inside of Ukraine, we were having some slight issues with controlling the crowds. People cutting in line, pushing to the front, and coming back for seconds before others had received anything.

One of the things that war does is bring out the worst… and bring out the best.

Our group of eleven from the west coast. Traveling with Baker a mighty fine host. All representing 501 Collective. Doing good everywhere can change your perspective.

When 501 Collective first put a team together to serve in Romania and Ukraine last April, there were a lot of unknowns. Unknowns regarding the war, how we would serve, what the team dynamics would look like.

Sometimes you wonder how significant (or insignificant) the work you are doing is. Is it making a difference? Is it helping?

We got up this morning and headed to a distribution area right up the road from Fight For Freedom (FFF).

We arrived in southern Ukraine at a food distribution center. The population there has added around 100,000 refugees from other parts of Ukraine. In turn, this has created a vast lack of food and supplies in the city.

In April 2022, while 501 Collective was in Suceava, we were taken to a house in a rural area.

We headed to an undisclosed location in Ukraine along with Fight For Freedom, bringing in food and supplies from Romania.

Sometimes a smile, hello, and a mustache can make all the difference.

‘We were driving around mines and dead bodies… and had to delete the photos from our phone because if the soldiers caught us with those, they’d shoot us right there.

When our team arrived in Suceava, the team was greeted at the airport by a young man named Petrisor (Peter).

Born in Donetsk, part of Eastern Ukraine, Anastasia has been a refugee since 2014.  “For me the war started 8 years ago.”

I think one of the simplest things we can do in life is, care.

I think my suitcase was bigger than some of the refugees.

I guess it makes sense that when bombs are going off around your house, you’d only grab the essentials.