Bethenny Frankel raises $25MILLION for Ukraine: The star says she has brought in over $10M in financial aid and $15M in humanitarian aid

Bethenny Frankel announced that her organization B Strong has raised over $10 million in aid to help relocate Ukrainian refugees and $15 million in humanitarian aid for those remaining in the war-torn country.

On Thursday, the 51-year-old Real Housewives of New York City alum updated her fans with a post on her Instagram Story and shared a video in which she described her fundraising efforts.    

‘I haven’t been giving you updates because I’ve been so swamped and just in the soup,’ Bethenny said as she addressed her followers in the clip.   

Helping out: Bethenny Frankel announced that her organization B Strong has raised over $10 million in aid to help relocate Ukrainian refugees and $15 million in humanitarian aid for those remaining in the war-torn country

Update: On Thursday, the 51-year-old Real Housewives of New York City alum updated her fans with a post on her Instagram Story and shared a video in which she described her fundraising efforts

She continued, ‘So we are up to $15 million dollars that will go into Ukrainian in aid and now $9 million dollars donated.

‘We are partnering with different apparel companies, food companies, lodging companies to be announced later, to place these people in lodging. 

‘Thousands of people in lodging and you already knew that we already partnered with travel companies for trains and planes, so it’s planes, trains, lodging food and clothing for refugees and aid going in.

Busy: ‘I haven’t been giving you updates because I’ve been so swamped and just in the soup,’ Bethenny said as she addressed her followers in the clip

‘Everything from all kinds of food and survival to medical supplies, etc. So now we are in full strategy/ execution mode. Thank you!’         

Bethenny also provided her fans with a link to her website where they can contribute to assist the citizens of the embattled nation.     

Last week, the philanthropist jumped into action to assist Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.

Fundraising: Bethenny also provided her fans with a link to her website where they can contribute to assist the citizens of the embattled nation

Acting quickly: On the day the takeover began, Bethenny announced she was preparing to ship supplies to NATO countries bordering Ukraine through her worldwide initiative B Strong

Fleeing to safety: The United Nations estimates that over one million refugees have fled Ukraine in the last seven days

On the day the takeover began, Bethenny announced she was preparing to ship supplies to NATO countries bordering Ukraine through her worldwide initiative B Strong.

Frankel’s organization initially committed to distributing $10 million worth of aid, but last Friday, the entrepreneur announced she had now upped her goal to $20 million.

The television personality documented the relief efforts on her Instagram account, posting video of boxes being packed with supplies by members of her B Strong team and her warehouse full of countless boxes. 

Frankel gave fans real-time updates on the situation in various videos posted to her account. 

Doing her part: Last week, Bethenny jumped into action to assist Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion

Bethenny revealed her team was mostly working with women and children as young men were being asked to remain in Ukraine to defend their country.

‘We’re really dealing with women and children at the border in Poland. We just had an incident with a woman whose husband was pulled out of the car, he was taken because he’s Ukrainian and the men can’t leave, and so he’s never held a gun before in his life and now he’s a soldier.

‘So she’s coming through with her family and we have to get her family to Spain where she has family, ’cause she doesn’t have family in Poland. 

‘So now a lot of money is going to individual cases and families through cash cards and plane tickets. So, initially we’re trying to raise money, initially just $100,000 for these families to try to get them where they need to get to. This happened during Hurricane Maria too, where people needed to get home for different situations.

‘But we’re dealing with mostly women and children, unless the men are young men.’

She also revealed her $20M relief effort goal in another video posted last Friday.

‘Our team is in Poland, and will reach the border of Budomierz – Hruszów… in one and a half hours.

‘This is a crisis’: The television personality documented the relief efforts on her Instagram account, posting video of boxes being packed with supplies by members of her B Strong team and her warehouse full of countless boxes

‘One family every ten minutes is fleeing and coming to this particular border. We have committed to $10 million in aid. That’s 40 containers containing $250,000 of aid each. Our goal is now $20M in aid which would be 80 containers.

‘If it becomes a mass exodus, that would require 100 containers which we have done before, we did that in Hurricane Maria and Irma.’

Speaking with People, Bethenny said her organization were in a position to act quickly as they already had a warehouse filled with $16M worth of aid. 

‘We can just be very quick’: Speaking with People , Bethenny said her organization were in a position to act quickly as they already had a warehouse filled with $16M worth of aid.

‘Here, we can just be very quick,’ she told People. ‘We’re very immediate because we already have a warehouse that’s filled with $16 million in aid.’

Aid includes 100,000 crisis kits containing basic items, including blankets, sleeping bags, and water.

Frankel told People her organization has begun sending the kits to Poland, where they will create refugee camps and distribute supplies by Monday.

Lending a hand: Frankel posted video of her team organizing the aid 

The containers being sent contain $250K worth of aid with donations from partners such as Goya, Delta and Away.

‘It’s the things that people would need immediately, if displaced. Just the basic, basic needs,’ Bethenny said of the supplies being shipped.

In the early hours of Thursday morning Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thought to be Moscow’s most aggressive action since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

By the end of the day, the Ukrainian government said 137 civilians and military personnel had been killed. Several explosions were heard in the capital of Kyiv early this morning as Russian forces pressed on with their assault.

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