CKSCP Emergency Board Meeting
March 6, 2022
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by President, Bob Herring. Also present at the ZOOM meeting were Mike Burns, Bob Derge, Frank Clark, Sasha Etlin, Steve Hirschberg, Ann Lampe, and Susan Neaman. Jin Kong attended the meeting as a special guest.
Bob Herring previously distributed an agenda via email.
UPDATES
Situation in Kharkiv:
· Sasha Etlin reported on what he has heard from Kharkiv. He advised that many of his contacts and friends are heading west to avoid the Russian invasion. Approximately 1.2 million have left for Poland and other safer destinations. There are three trains out daily and passage is free, but the trains are very crowded, and it is hard to find a spot. He advised that conditions in Kharkiv are getting much worse.
· Ann Lampe reported that Vadim Kovalenko and his family have left Kharkiv and are traveling west.
· Susan Neaman reported that Victoria is now in Slovakia and Denys Trachov is in Chernitsy (SP) in western Ukraine. Denys has indicated that he has some contacts he could reach out to regarding wear best to direct any assistance. She advised that Olga Demyanenko, who visited as part of a delegation in 2017, has some responsibilities related to the distribution of humanitarian aid. Olga is also working to get her daughter and parents out of Kharkiv.
· Frank Clark mentioned that he attended a Temple Shalom event, and they are trying to aid both Ukraine and Afghanistan.
· Bob Herring advised that Christ Church Cathedral is holding a concert for the benefit of Ukraine. He also advised that the last names of our friends who have been quoted on the website have been replaced with initials to ensure their anonymity.
· Susan Neaman advised that she has responded to a few posts on our Facebook page and will try to continue doing so. She asked who was handling the Facebook page. Everyone recollected that Guennadi Maslov handled the setup.
· Bob Herring and Susan Neaman reported on a Zoom meeting with 20+ Sister City organizations throughout the US who have relationships with Ukrainian and a few Russian cities. Some of these organizations have figured out ways to provide support, such as one city in California which uses their state’s National Guard. There was no call for a unified response.
· Susan Neaman and Ann Lampe reported on the March 2, 2022 Cincinnati City Council meeting and especially noted the excellent presentation by Bob Herring. They came away from the meeting feeling that Council was very supportive and had a good understanding of the Sister City relationships developed by all the Sister City organizations in Cincinnati. It was noted that Mayor Aftab has mentioned supporting any refugees who may come to Cincinnati from Ukraine. It was felt that he meant supporting the efforts of social service agencies if refugees end up coming to Cincinnati. Susan distributed Ukrainian flag lapel pins to the council members and Bob provided drink coasters which he funded at a cost of $180 to be reimbursed by CKSCP. It was noted that a video of the session is available on our website.
NEW BUSINESS
· Bob Herring advised that we have received a total of $3,875 in funds from several of our supporters. He is keeping a record of the names and amounts. He also advised that he received a call from a gentleman in Switzerland whose wife works for P&G. They are organizing an 8-vehicle caravan for the purpose of providing humanitarian relief to Ukrainian refugees. His wife is in Cincinnati at present and would be willing to carry two suitcases packed with aid items back to Switzerland if we get them to her by Friday afternoon. Susan noted that she had a suitcase and would accept items from other board members. One item especially mentioned as being needed was material for tourniquets.
· Bob Herring introduced Jin Kong who is an attorney who odes some pro bono work for CINUSCA. Jin provided an overview regarding the applicable regulations the State of Ohio and IRS apply to organizations accepting and distributing donations to areas of need. He recommended that we give some consideration to who we want to work with regarding the provision of aid. If we identify one or more organizations, we should endeavor to negotiate a memorandum of understanding (MOU). He advised that some organizations are purchasing Airbnb time for refugees. He also indicated that we would need to clearly identify CKSCP as the organization raising funds and detail the purpose to any prospective donors. He advocated a two-step process to ensure compliance. First, We need to document who has contributed and how much, and how any funds were subsequently distributed. Second, We need to clearly establish our operational parameters in our minutes and resolutions detailing how we are proceeding with the execution of any assistance. He suggested that we survey our contacts and triage what are the needs we want to address by working with our connections on the ground. He suggested Matthew 25 and Catholic Charities as possible partners. Regarding our 1023 filing, he advised that we need to notify the IRS of the change in our 501-C-3 mission to include fundraising and emergency assistance. Mike Burns noted that the current 1023 is not readily available but may be at the office.
· Board members had various questions for Jin related to his comments. Susan asked about the difference between CKSCP raising funds and then sending on to another organization providing aid, or simply providing a recommendation to interested donors to contribute directly to the organization delivering the assistance. Jin felt that a detailed MOU would be important in the first option.
· Susan Neaman mentioned that Vladimir Bulba has suggested working with the Red Cross and a former Open World attendee, Timur Horbunov has a connection with the Red Cross. Timur’s is Svitlana Horbunova, Kharkiv Vice Mayor. Susan also questioned whether we do something now, or later, with a preference for doing both now and later.
· Ann Lampe mentioned meeting Michael Hawkins at the City Hall demonstration and he has a good base of knowledge about CKSCP and handling refugees. Chuck Hollis’ name was also mentioned as having experience in immigration law. Jin Kong suggested that we need a disciplined approach; first figure out the current and developing situation over the next few days and identify stakeholders. Once we have examined the developing situation and researched possible assistance partners, we can meet again and develop our response accordingly.
· Frank Clark also mentioned the World Central Kitchen as a provider of meals for refugees and he indicated that the local veteran’s organization has reached out to him for information on how they could help.
· For next steps, Susan Neaman volunteered to contact the Red Cross and reach out to Olga for an up-to-date status report. Mike Burns will contact Matthew 25 to gage their ongoing efforts and any potential for partnering. Frank Clark will research more on the World Central Kitchen to see what they are doing and whether we could partner with them. Ann Lampe will do more research on CARITAS for the same purpose. Ann also indicated that she would contact Shelly Komrska regarding Nastya Miroshnikova’s current visit. She will also see if she can reach Nadia’s husband Andrei for a status report from Kharkiv.
NEXT MEETING
The board agreed to meet via Zoom again at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9th to review the information gathered and discuss a course of action going forward.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:45 p.m.
Submitted by Michael Burns, Secretary