While many people across the globe are contributing in various ways to help the war-torn people of Ukraine, some found an unusual way to lend their support even if they cant themselves visit the country. They’ve offered their support by paying for the rentals.
People are sharing across social media platforms how they booked their stay in various Ukrainian towns to donate money to residents, who are facing extreme financial hardship and losses owing to the Russian invasion.
This initiative started when an Instagram account @quentin.quarantino suggested the idea. “Yesterday I shared an idea to support Ukraine by booking rooms for rent on Airbnb. 24 hours later, 100’s of people are booking AirBnBs in Ukraine as a way to send immediate monetary assistance to people in hard-hit areas,” he wrote.
What really made others across the globe quickly join was the fact that Airbnb clarified they will not be taking their share in all the bookings in Ukraine amid the crisis. “We are waiving all guest and Host fees on all bookings in Ukraine at this time,” Airbnb wrote in Twitter while coming out in support of the initiative.
The San Francisco-based Company has also said it is offering temporary housing in neighboring countries to up to 100,000 Ukrainians who are fleeing.
Meanwhile, Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, took to Twitter to express gratitude for the massive response. “In 48 hours, 61,406 nights have been booked in Ukraine. That’s $1.9M going to Hosts in need,” he wrote terming it a “cool idea”.
“We are so humbled by the inspiring generosity of our community during this moment of crisis,” said Haven Thorn, a company spokesperson. He added, those willing to help by hosting Ukrainians or donating to their efforts to visit Airbnb’s website to find additional ways to support or information.
Many Ukrainians moved by the idea were not only grateful for the money but said they would pay it forward by donating it to their army. Others just noted that a message of support and solidarity gives them the “strength to fight on”.
In the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Volodymyr Bondarenko had 10 people book into his room in a single day. “This was surprising, it’s very supportive at the moment,” 36-year-old Bondarenko told CNN early Friday. “I told many of my relatives and friends that I plan to use this money to help our people who need it at this time.”
Another way anyone can help is by opening their home to Ukrainian refugees as an Airbnb host, for which the company will cover the host with Aircover, a one million dollar hosting insurance policy. Airbnb also partners with non-profits and charities to help contribute to the guests’ basic needs.
The hospitality service isn’t the only community-based service that is helping out. As per reports by Good News Network, Etsy has decided to cancel the current balances owed to Etsy by all sellers in Ukraine, which includes listing fees, transaction fees, advertising fees, and more—a roughly $4 million relief package.
An online portal in Ireland for hosting refugees crashed Monday night after receiving more than 4,000 pledges.
Organized by the Irish Red Cross, medium- to long-term accommodation pledges of 6-12 months stay flooded in. Secretary General of the Irish Red Cross, Liam O’Dwyer, said he was “astonished” by the number of housing pledges.
The Temporary Protection Directive was activated in Ireland, as by all EU member states in response to the Ukraine Crisis. It sets prevailing norms for the treatment of displaced persons in order to ensure no EU country is singled out for mass influxes of refugees based on favorable social policies. It establishes access to basic medical care, temporary housing, access to the labor market, and education and social welfare.
While we are seeing everyday lots of heart-wrenching stories from the war hit zone, we hope that the news of help and aid pouring from across the globe definitely brings hope to everyone alike.
