Bethenny Frankel is sending millions of dollars in aid to Ukrainian citizens affected by the Russian invasion through her disaster relief initiative, BStrong.
The BStrong organization is shipping 100,000 hygiene kits, survival kits, blankets, generators, sleeping bags to Ukraine’s NATO boarding countries as the Russian military continues its descent upon Ukraine.
On Friday night, the Real Housewives of New York City alum took to Instagram to share that BStrong has focused its efforts on helping Ukrainian women and children who fled to the border of Poland. Bethenny’s organization had committed to distributing $10 million worth of aid, but on Friday announced she had now upped her goal to $20 million. She also promised that the $10 million in aid is only an initial commitment and that more will be on the way.
BStrong is focusing on women and children in Ukraine
In an Instagram video posted on Friday, Bethenny let her followers know they are focusing heavily on Ukrainian women and children, as the men are unable to leave the country in order to fight as soldiers.
She said, “Our team is in Poland, and will reach the border of Budomierz – Hruszów in one and a half hours. One family every ten minutes is fleeing and coming to this particular border. We have committed to $10 million in aid. That’s 40 containers containing $250,000 of aid each. Our goal is now $20M in aid which would be 80 containers. If it becomes a mass exodus, that would require 100 containers.” Each container is filled with $250,000 worth of aid, which comes from donations from partners including Goya, Delta, and Away.
Bethenny told People Magazine that she has a warehouse ready to ship out that contains $16 million in aid, which includes 100,000 crisis kits filled with blankets, sleeping bags, toiletry kits, non-perishables and water, plus generators.
“It’s taking people seven hours to exit. Airways are closed, so it’s taking seven hours for people to get out, and you’re seeing the crazy traffic, and it’s escalating,” Bethenny said.
She elaborated, “European countries are going to have to take in refugees, and Poland is already experiencing people coming in now. So it’s the ideal place to set up.” She also informed her followers that aid would be available to the Ukrainian refugees on Monday.
As of Friday afternoon, Bethenny announced that donations were coming in every three seconds.
Bethenny said she is inspired by the Ukranian President
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Bethenny called Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “bada**” and said it was inspiring to watch him lead by example. She adds, “He just seems like he’s not giving up, and it’s an interesting thing to watch. If he weren’t fighting for his own country no one else would want to be doing that, so it’s amazing.”
The BStrong organization has helped with coronavirus efforts and several natural disaster relief efforts in the US and abroad since its launch in 2017.
For updates and to donate to the Ukrainian aid efforts, please visit bethenny.com/bstrong