Woody Johnson, New York Jets announce $1 million donation to Ukraine
The New York Jets have announced a $1 million donation to help aid the people of Ukraine.
The donation, which was announced on Tuesday, will be divided between several organizations over the course of the next year, with each receiving $100,000.
We are proud to announce a donation of $1 million to help aid the people in Ukraine.
Learn more ➜ https://t.co/kp4XV9WeaM
— New York Jets (@nyjets) April 5, 2022
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has hit particularly close to home for the Johnson family. This is because Suzanne Johnson, wife of Jets owner Woody Johnson, comes from Ukrainian heritage — her mother was born to two Ukrainian immigrant parents while her father himself emigrated to the U.S. when he was 21 years old.
“My mother passed away 10 years ago and my father two years ago, and he must be turning in his grave right now,” Johnson told the Associated Press. “I wanted to do my part in helping and to bring awareness because this is a problem that’s not going to go away.”
The first of the organizations receiving a donation from the Jets is Plast Scouting USA, which is focused on aiding urgent needs in the country, such as medical equipment and other supplies.
“The money, they’re going to need for a long time for rebuilding and for the aid,” said Johnson. “It’s going to be there. So I just hope we could start something going. The world has been quite generous and I just hope it continues to be that way.”
Johnson says a particular focus was wanting to find organizations that could get the supplies to the Ukrainian people right away.
In a statement released by the Jets, Plast Scouting USA chairman Andrew Kozak thanked the team for its donation.
“The funds will be put to immediate use in the purchase of critical medical supplies to treat the many heavily wounded Ukrainians,” Kozak said, “along with cutting edge medical technology such as portable, wireless ultrasound equipment.”
On top of the monetary donation, the Jets also gave their entire staff the opportunity to donate medical supplies to help aid the relief effort. The organization will match all donated supplies to assist victims and their families.
Ian Roddy is on Twitter: @IanRoddy_
