Campbell Law students raise funds for humanitarian efforts in war-torn Ukraine

Zoey Howe, a first-year student at Campbell Law School, is raising funds for United Help Ukraine, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the humanitarian efforts amidst the current crisis in Ukraine. 

Howe was first inspired by the culture of Russia and Ukraine while attending college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied Russian, and learned about the people and the culture of these countries from her professors, who were primarily Russian and Ukrainian immigrants. This passion was only strengthened by her boyfriend’s mother, who is an Ukrainian immigrant, and whose family remains in Ukraine. With her deep ties to Ukrainian culture, Howe says she found the invasion of Ukraine to be very staggering, and a shock to her adopted culture. 

Howe sought out one of her Campbell Law professors, Professor and Dean Emerita Melissa Essary, to voice her personal struggle, and her need to help as she watched the crisis in Ukraine unfold. Ultimately, Howe decided to take action by heading a fundraiser at Campbell Law. She set up a Venmo for her classmates to donate to the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, and provided donors with a pin attached to a ribbon in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. In addition to Howe’s fundraiser, Campbell Law’s SBA members voted to donate $1,000 towards the crisis in Ukraine.  

All of the money raised by Howe’s efforts will be donated to United Help Ukraine, a non-profit organization dedicated to “receiving and distributing donations, food and medical supplies to Ukrainian IDPs (internally displaced people), people of Ukraine affected by Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, families of wounded or killed for freedom and independence of Ukraine.”

Howe said she chose this organization at the suggestion of her boyfriend’s mom, who is connected with people on the ground in Ukraine. The organization began in 2014, following Russia’s attack on the Crimea, and it seeks to raise awareness of Ukrainian culture, and to provide medical aid, protective equipment, humanitarian aid as well as assist wounded warriors in Ukraine. 

Anyone wishing to donate to the crisis in Ukraine should Venmo their donation to “@Camels4UKR,” which will remain open for donations through April 20, Howe added.