Our Motivation and Who We Are

Pickup4Ukraine – Unterstützung für Kriegsopfer der Ukraine e.V. Our Motivation and Who We Are

(hier geht es zur deutschsprachigen Seite)

Our Motivation

Ukraine is defending itself in a war testing whether it—or any other nation—can prevail against a great power trying to destroy its culture and state.

“Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.”

Winston Churchill

We want to help the Ukrainians defend themselves, and we want to do it in a personal, direct, hands-on way. For this reason we founded the association (eingetragener Verein) “Pickup4Ukraine – Unterstützung für Kriegsopfer der Ukraine”. The association continues the work that Michael, Markus, David and Annette started in January 2023 and carried out as a private initiative until end of September 2023.

Since Nov 30th 2023 we are a registered association (eingetragener Verein): VR 61551 in the registry of associations (Vereinsregister) at Ludwigshafen / Rhein district court (Amtsgericht).

Our articles of association (Satzung) were recognized as non-profit (gemeinnützig) by the Speyer tax office on 30.10.2023.

Our purposes are defined as follows in our articles of association:

  • promotion of welfare (die Förderung des Wohlfahrtswesens) pursuant to section 52 II S. 1 No. 9 of the German Tax Code (Abgabenordnung); 
  • help for victims of war and their families (Hilfe für Kriegsopfer und deren Familienangehörige) pursuant to section 52 II S. 1 No. 10 German Tax Code (Abgabenordnung).

The purpose of the of the articles of association is realized in particular by the following activities:

  • Procurement, transportation and distribution of goods needed locally, in particular vehicles, medical supplies, clothing and food. Recipients are hospitals and other social and educational institutions in Ukraine, directly affected families and private individuals in Ukraine as well as the Ukrainian armed forces, who use the materials to protect the Ukrainian population as victims of war from Russian aggression and avert disaster;
  • Humanitarian aid for war victims and their families in the form of donations in kind and cash donations;
  • Organizing and conducting fundraising campaigns for monetary and material donations..

Ukraine’s defenders require plentiful and reliable transport for people, equipment, and medical evacuation. The average lifespan of a vehicle used near the front is three months.

Civilian hospitals and doctors in or near the combat zones depend on tenuous supply chains and often lack the most basic medical supplies.

While governments and large charitable organizations are moving mountains of material to Ukraine, there are still many niches and small gaps best addressed by small organizations like ours working in direct connection with the end users—quickly, directly, and with no guesswork.

We buy vehicles for transport near the front lines of the war and fill them, among other things, with medical supplies to treat wounded soldiers and civilians, as well as other equipment requested.  We do not provide weapons, ammunition or any kind of lethal aid. Wer personally drive into Ukraine. We give the hospital materials to a charity organization in Kyiv, which distributes them to hospitals along the frontlines. We usually organize personal hand overs for the vehicles to the receiving units in different Ukrainian regions.

Your donation is 100% for the vehicles and supplies. There is no overhead.  Fuel and travel costs for the drivers come out of our own pockets as part of our donations. You will receive updates and details about the delivery, showing how your donations are used.

Our tax ID is 41/659/37327. We are happy to issue donation receipts (donation confirmation based on the official template) for donations of more than EUR 300. Please note: For the tax deduction of donations below this amount, it is sufficient to submit a copy of the bank statement and a printout of the donation order (stating the purpose and the association as the charitable recipient) to the tax authority. Donation receipts are issued at the end of a calendar month for all donations received during that month. Please indicate your email address and postal address when transferring the money.

With very best wishes,

Michael Sylvester, chairperson of the association board (Vorstandsvorsitzender)

Dr. Annette Ehrnsperger, substitute and treasurer (Stellvertreterin und Schatzmeisterin)

Please donate by 

  • Bank transfer to the bank account of our association: Pickup4Ukraine – Unterstützung für Kriegsopfer der Ukraine e.V. – IBAN DE45 5479 0000 0001 8726 48, BIC GENODE61SPE, Reference “Pickup4Ukraine”
  • via Venmo or 
  • via Paypal

Thank you for your support!