Scott's still on his well-earned vacation this week, so you're still stuck with me, Robin. It's nice to see you all again, though!

I apologize for the delayed raffle. When Scott leaves us, everything falls apart. Not really. But these are a tremendous amount of work that sometimes simply can't be squeezed into a day, and things get off schedule.

Updates

We've sent stuff aplenty, but we're in a bit of an update drought. Never you fear. We'll have some for you next week.

It's a monster raffle week.

We have a GUR team who needs a pickup truck. We have a team with the 82nd who needs to replace a vehicle that got blown up. (No casualties, thankfully!) And, of course, we have a $2 package to benefit our general fund, so we can also try to address everyone's non-car needs. And probably some car needs. Cars always have needs.

$2 TACO Tuesday

(I consider TACO Tuesday Scott's thing and wouldn't normally use it, but this week I wish to celebrate last week's TACO on Iran, so it stays.)

This week we have fridge magnets featuring icon Patron and the russian warship stamp, a drone patch, and a stalk of wheat brooch. The collection is rounded out by something extra cool: a keychain made from a shell casing laser engraved with the tryzub. The shell casing came from the Krynky Beach party and was given to UFL by our friend Andriy, who was there with the 35th Marines and is now one of Madyar's Birds.

$5 82nd Pack

You guys. This pack is only $5. $5!

A team with the 82nd recently lost their vehicle to a drone strike. Thankfully, there were no casualties, but they need new wheels. They found a truck for €4500/$5300 and are paying it off in monthly installmets of €1500. That's a lot for defenders to be paying out of their own pockets. We want to pay as much of it off as we can for them. We've already sent them €1000, but it'd be grand if we could send more. Every $5 ticket you buy goes to paying off their new truck.

So what's in it? Oh man.

A desk flag. A rearview mirror banner thing (still don't know what those are really called). Stickers. A bracelet. Two patches. A water bottle. And a freakin' engraved shell in a lovely wooden presentation box.

$10 GUR pack

You've given this GUR team a lot of support over the years, and now they need you again. They need a truck, because of course they do, because everyone in Ukraine needs a car, because there is some curse* on Ukraine that any car that crosses its border will break down or get blown up.

We're going to do a full-fledged fundraiser for their truck, but they've given us such great stuff that we decided to kick it off with this $10 raffle package, which is one of the top 3 coolest we've ever offered.

It starts with a flag signed by the team the truck will serve (until it, too, succumbs to the curse). No, it's not that Forrest Gump. Sorry. You also get a patch, a challenge coin, and a framed collectible stamp, plus a holster for three shot glasses made from engraved grenade casings.

You know you want it.

In closing:

I delivered medical supplies to Ukraine for the first time in December 2014. It was $900 worth of Celox hemostatic gauzes bought with funds raised by a fellow editor from the press service I was with during the Revolution of Dignity. They filled two one-gallon Ziploc bags. I handed them off to a volunteer in Kyiv. He got them to the Cyborgs defending the Donetsk Airport.

I was sitting in a bar in Amsterdam with my then-husband when I got the word that the gauzes had reached them. I was a grown-ass woman, but I remember squealing, kicking my feet, and burying my face in my husband's shoulder. It was the first time I really felt the impact of providing this kind of aid, the first time I really understood that I might have contributed to saving the life of someone defending Ukraine. I understood all the way inside myself and all throughout myself what it meant, and it utterly overwhelmed me.

There are some thoughts and feelings so heavy that I refuse to let myself think or feel them too often lest they lose their power. That feeling that I got that night when Anatoliy texted me that the Cyborgs had gotten the gauzes--it's one of the big three. It's a routine thing now, facilitating lifesaving aid. Sometimes I even get annoyed with never getting a break from it. Every now and then, though, I let myself think about the import of what we're doing here. When I do, it leaves me feeling quiet, still, grounded, centered, small. I never want to lose that.

I'm not telling you this to be all "Oooo, look what a great, humble person I am." Ew. No. I'm telling you this because I want you to feel at least once the overwhelming thing I felt that night at that bar in Amsterdam. I hope that you look at some report of aid that you, you, YOU provided and really understand, all the way inside yourself and all throughout yourself, that someone is probably alive because of you.

-Robin

*This is 100% true: right now I'm in a group chat with a guy delivering children's clothes and toys from Norway to Ukraine. It has nothing to do with UFL; just a little side project thing. As I was writing about the curse on cars entering Ukraine, he wrote to tell us that something exploded on the side of the road, causing their passenger airbag to go off and hurting his copilot. They're nowhere near the front. It is the curse.

Don't forget:

Givebutter may limit ticket purchases to 10 at a time, but as many of you know, you can always buy additional ticket packs without limit.

UFL has amazing art here if you haven't seen it yet!

And please note that although the event description mentions a livestream, there will be none. And while we do deeply appreciate those of you who choose to donate as well as buying raffle tickets, we want to make it clear that donations are not required to enter the raffle.

15 April UFL raffle

Featuring one of the top 3 coolest packages we've ever offered!