Everyday, Burners Without Borders transforms communities through innovative disaster relief programs and community initiatives that make a lasting impact.
Burners Responding to Ukraine
Location: - Map It STATUS: Active
We’ve been hearing from many in the Burning Man Community who are getting involved and wanting to support the situation in Ukraine while gathering the most relevant information across the network. This page is meant to share grassroots community projects, mutual aid groups and other resources. We will keep it updated with emerging initiatives.
Burners Without Borders encourages innovative approaches to international relief projects and grassroots initiatives, just as we always have since the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We continue to support the efforts of decentralized problem solving and hope this resource serves as a starting point. Remember, do your own due diligence whenever you contribute time or resources to any organization.
Please note that BWB and Burning Man Project have no role in the funding, management or execution of any of these projects.
July 1, 2022-
Toybridge Corp for Ukraine Children
Toys provide great comfort to children, when access to recreation and levity is limited by the impact of war. We are the delivery service for donated toys, ensuring toys arrive to the children directly. We also support refugee children in nearby countries such as Poland and Romania and provide school supplies to shelters. Toybridge Corp is a Burner- organized, public nonprofit (501c3) that brings toys to kids in Ukraine. We made our first trip to Ukraine in May and we are planning more toylifts to children in Ukraine hospitals in Lviv, Kyiv, and Odessa. We are publishing a short film about the war and how it has impacted children.
Volunteer Need: logistics and navigation, and partners able to work in operations centers on the Romania/Ukraine border.
Check out photos of the work so far: http://www.toybridge.org/gallery.html
About Us: ToyBridge Corp
Check us out on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/toybridge/
Join our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1086441761922985/
June 14, 2022-
Ukrainian Burners withdraw from Burning Man 2022 Camp, instead, create Kurenivka Kids Camp Ukraine
donate to this free community project here
Kurenivka is a community of Ukrainian artists, makers, musicians, DJs, technologists, photographers, videographers, designers, and other creative people. We are all united by Burning Man culture, as well as a desire to promote Ukrainian contemporary culture in Black Rock City. Instead of Burning Man, we have decided to organize the Kurenivka Kids Camp in the Carpathian Mountains this summer to support children affected by the trauma of war.
This is a non-commercial, burning man-style camp that is completely free to children and their mothers. It will be a lot of fun for kids affected by the war.
June 1, 2022-
Burners collaborating with Sails of Freedom/Zeilen Van Vrijheid raised $60,000 dollars and contributed to the shipment of 26 ambulances and one fire truck to relief efforts in Ukraine!! NOW we are sponsoring 4×4 pickup trucks.
Most paved roads have been torn apart in Ukraine. In places like this, 4×4 pickup trucks and SUVs can save a life. Due to their off-road capabilities, they can reach places that ordinary ambulances cannot. Flat open truck beds help to operate fast and carry bedridden patients.
https://gofund.me/4412f2ea
You and your community/friends/family can sponsor an emergency truck to Ukraine. Click through to learn more about the initiative and ways to get involved:
Facebook: https://www.
Instagram: https://www.
Website: https://
March 31st, 2022-
Check out the Jack Rabbit Speaks for a write up of Burner initiatives in support of Ukraine: European Burners Activate to Support Ukraine
March 23, 2022- Official Government Page to Coordinate Global Aid
There is a new official government website for international groups that want to provide aid to Ukraine. Check out this webpage for a comprehensive process to support the delivery and shipment of your local donations: https://help.gov.ua/en
Participation in this Ukraine government process is not required for your mutual aid initiative, this is simply one more option/resource to support delivery, drop off, and shipment.
Mar 17, 2022 Community Project + Resource Updates
Global Disaster Relief Team (co-founded by BRC Rangers and community out of Boston) seeks qualified medics with Russian and/or Ukrainian language fluency to join our medical team in Poland on March 23rd for a 2-3 week deployment to help Ukrainian Refugees at the temporary shelter.
If you are an EMT, Paramedic, RN, or any other relevant medical skills and are interested in joining the team, please fill out the volunteering form here: https://forms.gle/
NOTE: We are also taking virtual volunteers to help with logistics & communications from the USA. You can use the same form linked above to apply to volunteer virtually with us.
Questions? Email global.relief.team@gmail.com
+ Ukrainian Burner-Driven Mutual Aid Project
Shipping and Delivery Partner: https://novaukraine.org/
Volodymyr is onsite and working with contacts in several urban centers to identify high-priority material/donation needs. In partnership with Nova Ukraine, they are receiving donations in the USA now. The biggest needs are for medical supplies like antibiotics, bandages, IV kits, tweezers, etc. Volodymyr says: “This is for those impacted by the conflict, including in cities like Mariupol, which is under heavy bombing and we think we have lost more than 1500 civilian people- so special medicines are especially urgent.” See the linked document for updated donation needs.
See All Donation Needs and USA drop-off Locations Here: https://bit.ly/3wlvUht
Questions or want to volunteer directly? Contact:
Volodymyr Nedogoda: antigorod@gmail.com
Victoria G: gizhyrova@gmail.com
Helping from Canada? please check these links:
https://www.cufoundation.ca/
https://cuias.org/wp/uk/
https://unfcanada.ca/contact-us/#Volunteer
https://www.unitewithukraine.com/donate_today
https://www.unitewithukraine.com/
+ CareBridge- Ukraine Direct Action
Daveed, a member of the San Francisco burner community, is at the Polish/Ukrainian border near Krakow working with local volunteers on a mutual aid travel initiative. Ukrainians seeking refuge in Poland almost exclusively women with children or unaccompanied children. This initiative is providing free tickets for flights and trains to anywhere in Europe to anyone who needs travel assistance. This initiative is helping ease the pressure on local housing resources while helping folks get to a place of safety.
Join Daveed’s Direct Action initiative driving refugees via their GoFundMe or Facebook group.
Check out this CNN news clip on this project.
+ Helping Ukraine- A Brief Resource List from Danielle Levsky on what you can do to help: from donating, to social media action, to calling local and national government officials.
From the Ukrainian Regional Community:
Yaroslav Korets, Head of the Board NGO “Ukrainian Burners” and Kurenivka lead writes:
“The incredible outpouring of support from the entire world has been truly inspiring. Our fellow Burners have already shown their solidarity and immense support. To organize and coordinate this generosity, the Ukrainian Burners organization has launched the Ukrainian Burners Refugee Support Initiative to put Burners everywhere in touch with Ukrainian refugees in need.
If you or anyone you know wishes to provide food, shelter, clothing, medicine, legal advice, or financial help please use or share this link.
We greatly appreciate all the help and empathy that the Burning Man community is giving us at this difficult time! We truly believe that solidarity and support are shining examples of the values on which our community is based.”
From Ukrainian Regional Contact Iurii Gagarin in Kyiv:
Iurii is posting updates and ways to help on his personal Facebook page.
Recommendations from Iurii:
“1) Pray for us and support #StopWarInUkraine #HelpUkraine movements in the media. Don’t stay silent, today it is us, tomorrow it could be you.
2) Reach out to your government to ask for help: encourage your officials to support Ukraine.
3) Support financially: You can directly support a variety of NGO funds (a few listed below).”
Links being shared for support by Burners (do your own due diligence with these organizations):
- LoveUkraine (Burner started charity)
- Humanitarian and Medical Aid (United Help Ukraine)
- Assistance to hospitals in Ukraine (project c.u.r.e.)
- Helping children victims of military activities (BF “Voice of Children”)
- Project Cure
- Global initiative to host Ukrainian people abroad. Ukraine Now.
Highlighted Regional Project from Misa, our Czech Republic Regional Contact:
Misa Rygrova has organized a BWB Backpacks for Ukraine Manual, which shows folks how they can create backpacks that include art supplies and other items for Ukrainian children displaced by the war.This effort is inspired by the BWB Detroit Homeless Backpack Project.
To follow and contribute, please visit the BWB-UB Facebook Group. At the time of this writing, you can also find people posting information about mutual aid groups organizing across Europe on that page.
Request for Support: Backpacks for Ukraine is seeking a community advisor/volunteers with an expertise in Czech Republic charitable tax law and relief fundraising.
Connect with the global BWB community:
If you have a project, a project idea, and/or are looking to plug in and get involved, please check out the following online spaces. If you administer, or know of, other mutual aid groups, organizing sites, programs, and projects that you think should be included here, please email us at bwb@burningman.org.
BWB Volunteers Worldwide FB Group is to discuss project ideas and connect with other Burners.
BWB European Working Group is a good Facebook venue for discussing European initiatives.
If you have a project, or an idea for a project, and you would like to discuss it with Burners Without Borders, please fill out this form, and we will get back to you as quickly as we can.
Please feel free to share this information with your community. If you have a project you would like us to include, please email bwb@burningman.org.
Thank you for responding with love, creativity and generous support to this crisis. Our community is known worldwide for doing amazing things in the face of adversity, and this is a time for us to shine together.
A Note:
We recognize that people are not their governments. We are Burners Without Borders because we recognize the inherent humanity in all people, and we will not discriminate against anyone base on nationality, race, religion, ethnicity, gender, country of origin, sexual orientation or anything else. Our aim is to be pro-humanity and pro-peace.
