From the Founders:

We run a software engineering company (invictusgurus.com), with 12 employees in Ukraine (about 1/3 of our staff). We have also worked for 7+ years with non-profit groups in Western Ukraine that focus on orphanages and refugees. When the war in Ukraine started, we weren’t just watching things unfold on the news; we were on video calls with our friends and employees there, listening to explosions in the background. Since then, it’s sadly become a “normal” part of our daily video calls.

Since the war began, we have been working non-stop to help everyone we possibly can in Ukraine. We raised funds for 80 beds for refugees through PayPal and Venmo donations while we worked to get our long-planned NGO Ignis Invictus up and running to handle the donations coming in and the growing needs in Ukraine.

We all hope the fighting will end soon, but the refugee needs will continue long after the war has ceased; even if that miraculously happens, men ages 18-60 are prevented from leaving the country, so nearly all the refugees are women and children. We expect the number of people fleeing to the border areas to increase dramatically in the coming days and weeks.

Our refugee teams on the border sent out an urgent call for beds, blankets, food, etc. We delivered over 500 beds, blankets, pillows, food, and other essentials in the first four weeks of the war.  We have also worked to source everything from inside Ukraine and keep funds flowing into the local economy so businesses can continue to operate and people can continue to be employed. Spending inside Ukraine allows your donations to meet refugee needs and the needs of hard-working people and their families. When Ukraine wins this war, we are committed to assisting them to rebuild what has been lost.

The long-term mission of Ignis Invictus is to build schools teaching software engineering and graphics design to kids aging out of orphanages who would otherwise face an extremely high probability of being trafficked.  Our vision for Ignis Invictus has only been emboldened by the events unfolding in Ukraine. We are already working towards opening the first school in Ukraine as part of the rebuilding efforts.

From Katharine and I and our friends and colleagues in Ukraine, we want to thank you so much for your support of Ukraine and your generous donations; we are truly grateful.

Sincerely,

Daniel and Katharine Knoodle