We have a lot for you this week!

Last week's raffle raised almost $2300 - THANK YOU! That money allowed us to buy 50 CATs for the Rubpak team of the 25th Airborne Brigade and paid for the 10 IFAKs another team asked us for. This week's raffle proceeds will go toward loading up Robin for her delivery next month: replenishing Arcaist's emergency tacmed stocks and supplying everyone else we have the budget to buy for.

After UFL's discounts, each IFAK costs $155...that may sound like a lot, but the gear inside can literally mean the difference between life and death for the soldiers. russia may not value the lives of their people, but you have shown time and time again that Ukrainian lives are different to us.

You can read Robin's Reddit post here for full details and more updates.

The 214th thanks you for two evacuation carts and the 108th's stabilization point thanks you for their folding medical cots.

Last, but certainly not least, is the new Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) for the 79th. They desperately needed this for logistics to their front line troops.

We want to do something special to celebrate the 79th's new delivery vehicle, so we decided to let you name it! Write your ideas for a name in the comment section of your donation/ticket purchase and we will pick our favorites for you to vote on next week.

$2 Tuesday

Here are more goodies from Arcaist's stash:

To begin, we have another beautiful beaded ornament featuring a bulova. A beautiful print and an adorable fridge magnet featuring Patron join a patch from the 115th with a hand-knitted keychain to finish it off!

$5 pack

Please bear with me - this pack has a lot of history with me and somehow all connects together. The winner of this pack will add another link in that chain, connecting themselves further with Ukraine.

My friends in Khmelnytskyi gave me this jewelry box (hand-made by my friend's father) when I visited them after delivering Blyskavka in July.

Remember my friend from Kharkiv who was medically discharged from the AFU? She visited me here in Colorado last week and gave me these for the raffle! The pendant is sterling silver and was made by an older soldier serving with my buddy in a medical unit; that soldier made and sold jewelry in Mala Danylivka (Kharkiv) before the war. When russia invaded, he joined the AFU at 60 years old!

The pendant is designed to resemble the dopamine molecule, the hormone of happiness. As the attached card reads, dopamine pushed us do extraordinary feats and accomplishments.

The older soldier maintained his typical Ukrainian resolve when his son, a soldier in the 92nd Brigade, was severely injured and brought in to the field hospital where the father and my buddy were stationed. The father refused to break, telling my buddy that his son was strong and would survive as a hero of Ukraine.

Speaking of the 92nd, the top patch belongs to that unit. My Kharkiv buddy grew up in the army town surrounding the 92nd's HQ and actually took me on a tour of the town, showing me the 92nd's barracks and training fields, plus the destroyed civilian apartment buildings and schools that russia loves to target.

The bottom silver patch is from Kharkiv, and features Derzhprom, the "first Soviet skyscraper". The word at the bottom, zalizobeton (залізобетон) means "reinforced concrete", referencing the construction of Derzhprom but more importantly the indefeatable spirit of Kharkivites.

This spirit is on full display in my buddy, who inspired me in 2023 to fully embrace Ukrainians.

In closing:

I normally try to add a little something here to share with you observations and discoveries about Ukraine and its people. This week, however, I think the story of the $5 pack fills that function.

As I say every week on behalf of all of us at UFL, thank you. Thank you honestly and deeply for your continued support of our Ukrainian defenders and thank you for allowing us to be the conduit of that support.

Героям слава!

Glory to the heroes!

-Scott

Please note

Though 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.

24 September UFL raffle for Robin's Run

Updates, Info, and Stories...oh my!