Alain Guerard spoke to the club this morning, to update us all on the work that members of this District (and elsewhere) are doing to provide medical supplies to the Ukraine. Alain described the purpose of the group as "Our purpose is to acquire needed supplies and equipment based on well-defined requirements and priorities and to coordinate its delivery to locations in the Ukraine that fills the need". This project began as a request from Gary Derechuk of the Calgary club for assistance in funding a rehabilitation hospital once the war was over, and it has grown way beyond that.
The group has titled their group "LogOps", The LogOps is a command-and-control center that coordinates procurement and delivery of supplies and equipment to those in need. In our mission, we need to coordinate communications and physical logistics activities. The most important part of the process is securing material that someone needs, and will provide destination paperwork required by customs. This "destination requirements component" has been difficult to achieve, at least at the beginning.
The role of Log Ops is to coordinate acquisition of medical equipment as required by the organizations in Ukraine that have identified the need and priority. As a center of operations, the LogOps team will:
- Donations of supplies and equipment.
- Cash donations.
- Procurement.
The LogOps team, over time, will develop into a streamlined logistics control operation to deliver medical supplies and equipment in dire need in Ukraine or elsewhere. In the hope that its effort will contribute to the rehabilitation of those affected by war and that it will support them in time of peace.
What an amazing project, the whole team deserves thanks and recognition for their hard work. Well done!