We've always said that we wanted Coeur to be known as a company with a heart and have hoped that compassionate individuals would gravitate to the brand, but we've never seen anything like this.
The scope and scale of the human suffering in Ukraine is so immense that it almost defies comprehension and recently, Collective Beat ("TCB") Member Lia Belarado let us know that she could not sit idly by.
She reached out to her fellow TCB members to get some advice and then made the decision to join a group of people heading to Europe to help refugees from the war.
Her sisters in the TCB donated thousands of dollars so Lia could buy supplies and then she flew to Europe. She agreed to answer some questions in her down time and in a subsequent blog, we'll post those questions and her responses.
Before she left, Kebby sent her a note wishing her safe travels and Lia responded with this email:
Thank you so much for the kind words! I ended up having so many more to-do items that I couldn't get myself together for the pick-up! I am so thankful for you and Lisa. I wanted advice on what kinds of baby formula and protein bars to bring (being a vegan and having no kids, I thought the collective beat ladies would have good insights on this) and when I asked for advice - without even asking for funds - people on the team sent me over 3k worth of donations to the point where I had to ask some ladies to hold off bc I couldn't spend all of that on the baby formula, protein bars, and random other thing I got.
I am planning on getting visa gift cards in polish and euro currency to hand out to refugees within the next few days with the extra funds. But just waiting to see what is needed once I get on site. We are doing the night shift at the medical tent. Apparently we were told that the polish people are just exhausted from volunteering so hopefully our time here let’s someone else get a good nights sleep. Our orientation is Saturday night at 8pm CET so I will know more then. We traveled with 6 suitcases of supplies and medications, a portable ekg machine and IV lines. We had an update while we are on our flight that we should be expecting people in rough shape at the border - so I’m mentally preparing for that.
This was not my idea to go - it was something my sister felt like she had the capacity to do - so I can't take any credit for this - But she didn't want to go alone!
I will def send you updates and I'm so thankful again for you and Coeur and the amazing People you have personally been responsible for putting in my life. I feel very fortunate to have the support system and capacity to help in this small way.
Also side note - it's going to be so super cold there and I brought my Coeur swim parka to take the edge off. That's one warm hoodie!
Thank you so much for the kind words.
Lia
Folks...in our humble opinion, this shows the best of human nature and it's hard for us to put our feelings into words. Lia, if you're reading this, thank you for your kindness, your compassion and you're willingness to help others out in their time of need.
Your friends at Coeur