Direct Relief and FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) announced the safe arrival of a FedEx humanitarian relief flight into Warsaw, Poland, delivering 76 tons of critical medical aid for Ukraine on Sunday, March 27, 2022.
Aid aboard the FedEx Boeing 777 cargo aircraft included an emergency field hospital donated by the State of California and substantial quantities of emergency medicines and supplies, including trauma and wound care medications, chronic disease medications, oxygen concentrators, and Covid-19 antiviral tablets. Direct Relief team members were on site for the offload and final-mile distribution to Ukraine.
“Our hearts are with each person pushed into crisis by the war in Ukraine, and Direct Relief will continue responding to the urgent requests for medical support,” said Thomas Tighe, Direct Relief President and CEO. “Direct Relief is deeply grateful to FedEx for stepping up, yet again, to provide logistics and delivery of medical support so critically needed by families and people whose lives have been upended and face tremendous hardship and uncertainty.”
All items were provided at the request of, and approved by, Ukraine’s Ministry of Health.
Supplies on the flight were donated by companies including 3M, AmerisourceBergen, Baxter, Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation, Inc., Hikma Pharmaceuticals, McKesson, Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer Inc., TEVA, Unilever, and Viatris, among others.
Direct Relief and FedEx have been collaborating to deliver critical aid for more than 28 years. Together, the organizations are able to assist communities in need around the world by leveraging logistical expertise to transport critical aid where and when it is needed most.
“The humanitarian crisis in Eastern Europe is devastating as millions of Ukrainians flee the conflict in their country, seeking refuge in communities across Poland and other neighboring countries,” said Karen Reddington, regional president of Europe, FedEx Express. “We are grateful to be able to use our global network to offer logistics support for organizations like Direct Relief who have long been committed to sourcing and delivering critical supplies in times of crisis. This situation impacts many, including our own Ukrainian team members, and we remain committed to helping during this devastating time.”
Since February 24, Direct Relief has provided more than 125 tons of medical aid in response to the crisis, from field medic packs — which contain items to address trauma, including tourniquets and wound dressings — to diabetes and cancer medications.
FedEx has committed more than $1.5 million (U.S.) in humanitarian aid to support those impacted by the conflict in Ukraine, including $1 million that has been allocated for in-kind shipping with the company’s longstanding nonprofit partners.
