WEBVTT - Conversations with Val Chmerkovskiy (Part Two)

0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:07.840
<v Speaker 1>This is Conversations with Olivia Jade and I Heart Radio Podcast. Guys,

0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:12.800
<v Speaker 1>welcome back to the podcast. This is episode two, or

0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:15.560
<v Speaker 1>I guess you could say part two with Val and

0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:18.160
<v Speaker 1>we're going to jump right into it and talk all

0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:24.360
<v Speaker 1>things Ukraine like we did last week. You kind of

0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:29.840
<v Speaker 1>touched on Max was in Ukraine when all of this happened. Um, yeah,

0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:33.519
<v Speaker 1>what was that like when the invasion first happened, like

0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:39.600
<v Speaker 1>for him? And um, you guys, Yeah, my brother was

0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:42.279
<v Speaker 1>in the Key of which is the capital, and he

0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:44.839
<v Speaker 1>was out there filming The World of Dance. He was

0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:48.159
<v Speaker 1>on the on the judging panel, was one of the judges,

0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:52.839
<v Speaker 1>and and uh, you know, I kept checking in because

0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.480
<v Speaker 1>here the news was reporting there were people, you know,

0:00:56.600 --> 0:01:00.280
<v Speaker 1>they're they're mobilizing an army around the border and hundred

0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:05.280
<v Speaker 1>nine Russian soldiers around the border, and and like it

0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:11.039
<v Speaker 1>was boiling, the pot was boiling. And and you know

0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:15.760
<v Speaker 1>the problem now is we're either a so distracted, uh

0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:21.479
<v Speaker 1>be maybe lost overwhelmed and see potentially lost a little

0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:24.760
<v Speaker 1>faith in the in the news. And so you know,

0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:27.320
<v Speaker 1>it's kind of like the boy who Cried Wolf. I'm

0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:30.640
<v Speaker 1>not sure, you know, I couldn't tell that there just

0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:34.959
<v Speaker 1>exaggerating for the sake of another headline. This was like

0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:40.160
<v Speaker 1>really happening. So I try to keep calm until, you know,

0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:44.520
<v Speaker 1>until the situation. Yeah, because at this point, right like

0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:47.160
<v Speaker 1>the U S News you're saying, was reporting that this

0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:49.000
<v Speaker 1>is all going down in Ukraine. But when you're talking

0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:53.520
<v Speaker 1>to Max, he's like, everything's fine over here. Yeah, yeah,

0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.160
<v Speaker 1>he was saying that. He was saying that, you know,

0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:00.400
<v Speaker 1>the people are optimistic, and they're just saying that. Listen,

0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:04.520
<v Speaker 1>it's you know there, they're on the east side of

0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:08.680
<v Speaker 1>the country, northeast, and you know, it's there's no way

0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.920
<v Speaker 1>and it's not gonna you know, it's older or whatever.

0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:15.079
<v Speaker 1>It's just kind of posturing, if you will. And you know,

0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:17.679
<v Speaker 1>a hundred ninety thousand soldiers around the borders, not that

0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:21.400
<v Speaker 1>it doesn't sound like posturing, but they were optimistic. And

0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:26.120
<v Speaker 1>I think again it's Ukrainians, you know, two thousand and fourteen,

0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:29.720
<v Speaker 1>just to get back to little history, Russia came in

0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:35.000
<v Speaker 1>and took an entire Crimean peninsula which was part of Ukraine,

0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:39.400
<v Speaker 1>just took it, just took it. You know, it's like

0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:43.920
<v Speaker 1>America going in and just taking Montreal and Quebec. The

0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:48.000
<v Speaker 1>entire thing, you know, from Canada and if you could

0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:50.880
<v Speaker 1>imagine Ukraine in two thousand fourteen, we're just not you know,

0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:55.800
<v Speaker 1>militarily equipped to defend itself. And it was such a

0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.320
<v Speaker 1>shock because it was unprovoked and it was just like

0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.639
<v Speaker 1>the military just rolled in and took the land and

0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:06.520
<v Speaker 1>claimed it as theirs. I mean, it's my bothering. The

0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.320
<v Speaker 1>point is that at that point the country was like, listen,

0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.800
<v Speaker 1>that's that's a problem, and we need to you know,

0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:15.640
<v Speaker 1>we need we need to up our military game because

0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:18.360
<v Speaker 1>you know, no one's gonna come and rescue us. So

0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.840
<v Speaker 1>from two thousand and fourteen country and it's people have

0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:26.960
<v Speaker 1>really you know, started training, they started preparing, and mentally

0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:31.520
<v Speaker 1>they were ready to like do this, you know, and

0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:37.040
<v Speaker 1>I think this was, yes, an unprovoked invasion and completely

0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:41.200
<v Speaker 1>more than they ever thought it was going to become.

0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:44.560
<v Speaker 1>But they, you know, the way my brother kind of

0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.680
<v Speaker 1>put it as like a lot of these guys they

0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:51.360
<v Speaker 1>were they were ready. They were like, Okay, let's do this.

0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:53.320
<v Speaker 1>You know, it's like when you get bullied in school

0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:57.280
<v Speaker 1>every day for you know that after one after the

0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:00.400
<v Speaker 1>day after day after day, he takes this and then

0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:02.680
<v Speaker 1>he takes you this, and he takes a lunch money

0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:05.760
<v Speaker 1>and takes a lunch, and then at some point he

0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:08.920
<v Speaker 1>just you know, picks you up and and it's ready

0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.320
<v Speaker 1>to fight. You know. At some point you're just like,

0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:13.960
<v Speaker 1>you know what, let's I've been waiting for this. Let's

0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:17.320
<v Speaker 1>let's just do this, so that let's just do this,

0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:19.279
<v Speaker 1>you know. And so I think a lot of a

0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.960
<v Speaker 1>lot of the country felt like that. And then but obviously,

0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:26.320
<v Speaker 1>you know, it creates a lot of havoc and uncertainty.

0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:28.760
<v Speaker 1>And anyway back to my brother, the point is that

0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.080
<v Speaker 1>he was on a production and they were telling him that,

0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:34.840
<v Speaker 1>you know, don't worry, it's gonna be fine. And and

0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:40.080
<v Speaker 1>literally I spoke to him on Wednesday and he was like, bro,

0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:43.280
<v Speaker 1>I'm like, dude, are you watching the news. It's like crazy, right,

0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:46.760
<v Speaker 1>And he's like, I'm fine, I don't worry about it.

0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:49.840
<v Speaker 1>That's in America. They're reporting this in America. Don't don't trip.

0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.640
<v Speaker 1>I'm good. And then I went to live. I'm like cool,

0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:57.320
<v Speaker 1>you know, I take his word like cool. Yeah, I'm

0:04:57.320 --> 0:05:01.279
<v Speaker 1>like cool. And then like literally at four in the

0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:04.080
<v Speaker 1>morning and calls me, because you know, the time difference,

0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:05.760
<v Speaker 1>I think it was like, yeah, four in the morning

0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:11.279
<v Speaker 1>and on a Thursday, and I was February four when

0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:14.720
<v Speaker 1>they started in waiting and the rock kids started falling,

0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:19.960
<v Speaker 1>you know, and people started scrambling and it became really tense,

0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:22.800
<v Speaker 1>and he called me and I've never seen my brother

0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:27.360
<v Speaker 1>really be that. That shook, like, you know, my my

0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:32.120
<v Speaker 1>brothers is a tough dude. And he was like he

0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:34.480
<v Speaker 1>had tears in his eyes. I mean, he was really scared.

0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.040
<v Speaker 1>And I know, the way I described this emotion was

0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:41.400
<v Speaker 1>like it was it was fear because he was like,

0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:43.440
<v Speaker 1>you know, he just wanted to get home. It was

0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:47.520
<v Speaker 1>regret because he was like I and then I I

0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:53.400
<v Speaker 1>messed up. You know, he used a different word, but um,

0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:55.919
<v Speaker 1>you know I really really messed up, Like I should

0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:57.640
<v Speaker 1>have I should have left, I should have left a

0:05:57.640 --> 0:05:59.600
<v Speaker 1>little sooner. I don't know what to do. And then

0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:05.560
<v Speaker 1>it was like so fear, regret, and then it was sadness.

0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:07.920
<v Speaker 1>You know, he was just sad because as he was

0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:10.960
<v Speaker 1>trying and you know, kind of calling me. And then

0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.360
<v Speaker 1>we started scrambling for resources to get him out because

0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:16.640
<v Speaker 1>by that time, the US embassy and consulate were empty, right,

0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:19.080
<v Speaker 1>so by that time we've already extracted all the American

0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:22.839
<v Speaker 1>citizens for the most part, government officials. So it's not

0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:24.440
<v Speaker 1>like he could go to the U. S. Embassy and

0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:27.640
<v Speaker 1>show his passport and be like protecting, because that's what

0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:32.760
<v Speaker 1>happens around the world, So cherish your American passport, everybody

0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:38.560
<v Speaker 1>that's not American citizen. Um, we started scrambling to kind

0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:42.359
<v Speaker 1>of get him out, and as that, you know, it's happening,

0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:44.840
<v Speaker 1>the reality that all of his friends don't have that

0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:48.400
<v Speaker 1>same luxury, you know, the people that now he built

0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:51.200
<v Speaker 1>a relationship with, and he's looking at his manager out there,

0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:55.560
<v Speaker 1>he's looking at his you know, post buddy, and you

0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.599
<v Speaker 1>know they are he sees fear in their lives, in

0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.480
<v Speaker 1>their eyes, like where they gonna do with their family,

0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:05.640
<v Speaker 1>and and now, you know, for the right reasons, he

0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:10.720
<v Speaker 1>stops being the concerned the priority of production, even though

0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:13.280
<v Speaker 1>they you know, they helped them out. Obviously they did

0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:18.760
<v Speaker 1>their best, but like I said, all the structure collapses immediately,

0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:23.480
<v Speaker 1>and you just it becomes chaotic survival. You know, you're

0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:27.440
<v Speaker 1>just thinking about your loved ones and your immediate kind

0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:32.800
<v Speaker 1>of safety. So yeah, so he uh, you know, I'm

0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:34.720
<v Speaker 1>not going to get into how we were able to

0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:38.040
<v Speaker 1>get him into more or less safety. But he you know,

0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:41.960
<v Speaker 1>he was he was at the hotel um kind of

0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:45.600
<v Speaker 1>in the center, but you know, away from a lot

0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:51.480
<v Speaker 1>of the the real big fighting. Uh still sirens still,

0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:54.920
<v Speaker 1>you know, bomb shelter definitely, you know, bombs being dropped.

0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:59.080
<v Speaker 1>But like I said, at least and it was crazy

0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:02.680
<v Speaker 1>you faced on me. Across the street was this police

0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:06.960
<v Speaker 1>department and there was literally just lines and lines and

0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:12.400
<v Speaker 1>lines all day long around the block of civilian civilians

0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:16.560
<v Speaker 1>just coming up and picking up arms, regular people just

0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:20.120
<v Speaker 1>you know, just ready to fight, just ready to fight.

0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:38.200
<v Speaker 1>So obviously Max is in Poland now he's kind of

0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:41.840
<v Speaker 1>helping with like sheltering and helping people that are coming

0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:45.800
<v Speaker 1>from Ukraine like find a spot, right, yes, so he

0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.280
<v Speaker 1>kind of like that. That's the thing is like there's

0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:52.280
<v Speaker 1>a lot of people that want to help, and there's

0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:54.040
<v Speaker 1>like where do you start? Where do you begin? Like

0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:56.120
<v Speaker 1>how do I do this? Just donate to the Red

0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.080
<v Speaker 1>Red Cross or like where is that going to go?

0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:02.600
<v Speaker 1>And I was gonna, you know, um, but in real

0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:07.200
<v Speaker 1>time he was literally taking his own funds and like

0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:10.400
<v Speaker 1>putting people up like here comes you know, if you

0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:13.880
<v Speaker 1>if you get to the border, like I'll, I'll take

0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:16.319
<v Speaker 1>care of the housing for a month so you could

0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:19.280
<v Speaker 1>get your bearings, and like he was doing that. You know,

0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:26.080
<v Speaker 1>one family at a time, one person at a time. Um,

0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:29.760
<v Speaker 1>you do what you can, you know. And for us, obviously,

0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:32.240
<v Speaker 1>the dance community has a lot of our friends and

0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:36.920
<v Speaker 1>a lot of our friendships, and so it is heavily

0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:42.120
<v Speaker 1>Ukrainian dancers that we kind of gravitated to helping in

0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:46.040
<v Speaker 1>that instance, uh, get out of the country and as

0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:49.400
<v Speaker 1>far as you know, some some accommodations you know, help them,

0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.600
<v Speaker 1>help them, helping them out logistically, but also a little

0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:57.000
<v Speaker 1>bit financially. But yeah, now he's in Ukraine doing that

0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:03.559
<v Speaker 1>and um, making sure. So in the meantime in America,

0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:05.600
<v Speaker 1>My my father, you know, he grew up in that

0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:08.160
<v Speaker 1>country way more than than I did. You know, he

0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:10.760
<v Speaker 1>grew up in the Ukraine. He was born there, and

0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:16.720
<v Speaker 1>he was just angry, restless and really just angry. He

0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.600
<v Speaker 1>was angry that this is just happening. And he didn't

0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:22.800
<v Speaker 1>want to just donate some of his money so it's

0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:26.920
<v Speaker 1>not he like, really he's about that life. So he

0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:29.160
<v Speaker 1>was like, well, you gotta do this for me, you

0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:32.760
<v Speaker 1>gotta you know, think of a name. Uh, let's you know,

0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:34.800
<v Speaker 1>help me set up an account. I'm gonna need you

0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:36.920
<v Speaker 1>to you know, promote it and then I'll take care

0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:39.320
<v Speaker 1>of everything else. I'm like, Dad, what are you doing?

0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:42.120
<v Speaker 1>Like he wants to start from scratch. He wants to

0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:44.959
<v Speaker 1>create his own thing, not piggyback off somebody else that's

0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:50.360
<v Speaker 1>starting some um like aid Foundation for Ukraine. He's yeah,

0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:52.880
<v Speaker 1>he's he want I want to start a humanitarian and

0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:55.600
<v Speaker 1>don't want to start a charity. And we're gonna do

0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:57.480
<v Speaker 1>this and this is what I want to do. And

0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:00.319
<v Speaker 1>I'm like that, Like, we have a business to run.

0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:02.400
<v Speaker 1>There's a lot of ways we can help that doesn't

0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:07.560
<v Speaker 1>entail us starting you know, an entire infrastructure of support,

0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:12.000
<v Speaker 1>Like you have no resources of how to ship things out.

0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:14.040
<v Speaker 1>We were not in the import export game, Like we

0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:17.960
<v Speaker 1>don't know this stuff. Uh. And he didn't want to

0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:21.840
<v Speaker 1>hear it. And it's crazy, like his relentless list is wild.

0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:26.360
<v Speaker 1>And he was like, and this was eighteen days ago literally, uh.

0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:30.320
<v Speaker 1>And we started Verona. I came up with that name

0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:34.199
<v Speaker 1>because that's the address of where he grew up in

0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:37.520
<v Speaker 1>the Ukraine and where then my brother was born. And

0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:42.680
<v Speaker 1>I was born uh and UH it's a Ukrainian humanitarian

0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:47.480
<v Speaker 1>aid and it's basically and now we're officially recognized the

0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:52.680
<v Speaker 1>nonprofit organization. And basically we we started with an Amazon

0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:55.760
<v Speaker 1>registry because you know, obviously we have reached beyond the

0:11:55.800 --> 0:12:00.120
<v Speaker 1>tri state area of Jersey, New York, Connecticut. UH, and

0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:04.240
<v Speaker 1>we wanted our fans to kind of help UM start

0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:07.520
<v Speaker 1>to go fund me and and and collect money. It

0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:10.720
<v Speaker 1>felt also kind of a little bit not too much,

0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:14.360
<v Speaker 1>but like like what are we gonna do with this money?

0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:16.640
<v Speaker 1>You know, we don't we don't want to touch this money.

0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:20.280
<v Speaker 1>We want to do something tangible, right, And so UM

0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:24.760
<v Speaker 1>we started with this Amazon registry and he approached the

0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:29.480
<v Speaker 1>mayor of Fortly, New Jersey UM for a warehouse. He

0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:32.840
<v Speaker 1>got this warehouse. Then he got you know, the mayor

0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.280
<v Speaker 1>of Sea Caucus and the mayor of Vege Water and

0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:39.280
<v Speaker 1>then ultimately just started right and so literally we had

0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:44.160
<v Speaker 1>a conversation on Thursday. On Friday, we started an Instagram account.

0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:50.559
<v Speaker 1>On Saturday, he got the warehouse, and on Sunday already

0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:55.000
<v Speaker 1>we we we posted on Saturday. On Sunday, the Amazon

0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:58.480
<v Speaker 1>trucks started rolling in, the volunteers started showing up and

0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:04.800
<v Speaker 1>by Monday they were already hundreds of people volunteering. We

0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:09.839
<v Speaker 1>had already day three, we had we had five Amazon

0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:14.360
<v Speaker 1>full Amazon trucks of of aid, of like humanitarian aid

0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.640
<v Speaker 1>coming in like it is wild. And if you go

0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:20.400
<v Speaker 1>at Barano with seven on Instagram, like you know, we're

0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:24.600
<v Speaker 1>documenting everything, the show and everything. Obviously, transparency is key

0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:29.120
<v Speaker 1>because I want people to see because it's spearheaded by

0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:31.760
<v Speaker 1>my father and it's supported by my brother and I.

0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:37.319
<v Speaker 1>But ultimately grew into a community, you know, volunteers that

0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:41.400
<v Speaker 1>have resources beyond just like money. You know a lot

0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:43.800
<v Speaker 1>of folks you don't have money, they and they have

0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:47.120
<v Speaker 1>full time jobs and no one's getting paid for me. UM.

0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:50.280
<v Speaker 1>But we have a young woman that is an accountant

0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.200
<v Speaker 1>by profession that came here and started helping out with

0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:57.040
<v Speaker 1>the counting and making sure all the boxes are labeled.

0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:02.040
<v Speaker 1>We have another and in the meantime, you got the warehouse.

0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:07.400
<v Speaker 1>He got UM trucks that can carry this to to

0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:10.920
<v Speaker 1>a cargo plane. He figured out he found a cargo

0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:15.760
<v Speaker 1>plane that could fly it out to Ukraine. UM on

0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:21.000
<v Speaker 1>the Ukrainian side. Uh, my brother helped coordinate people to

0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:23.880
<v Speaker 1>receive this, say right, because it's important that, like you know,

0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:26.760
<v Speaker 1>we were excited and we're helping where you know, where

0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.280
<v Speaker 1>is it going and is it getting there. We were

0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:33.240
<v Speaker 1>able to find people that are just as you know,

0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:37.480
<v Speaker 1>coordinated as us, I guess on our end to also

0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:41.400
<v Speaker 1>have a warehouse and are able to receive this stuff.

0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:45.640
<v Speaker 1>And actually three days our first shipment showed up. It

0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:49.680
<v Speaker 1>was through air. It was afraid Um that arrived and

0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:53.160
<v Speaker 1>already unloaded, and and we have stickers on every box,

0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:56.520
<v Speaker 1>we have descriptions like it turned into a full scale

0:14:56.680 --> 0:15:03.400
<v Speaker 1>like operation tomorrow. Just to kind of give you some perspective,

0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:08.800
<v Speaker 1>We've we've packaged over two hundred and ten thousand pounds

0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:15.000
<v Speaker 1>literally last week. You were like, so that's a big

0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:18.760
<v Speaker 1>jump over two hundred thousand pounds. We've shipped out a

0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:25.560
<v Speaker 1>hundred and sixty thousand. I'd say about sixty thousand went

0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:29.680
<v Speaker 1>by air and a hundred thousand is going by by ship.

0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:34.080
<v Speaker 1>That's gonna take like two to three weeks. It's not

0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:39.720
<v Speaker 1>immediate kind of help, but like medical supplies and you know,

0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:45.040
<v Speaker 1>immediate like civilian soldier needs, like you know, people like

0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.360
<v Speaker 1>I said, it's not a video game, like this guy's

0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:50.520
<v Speaker 1>in the trenches, freezing their bottle. You know, did they

0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.560
<v Speaker 1>get wet in the snow And now they're their thermals

0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:56.560
<v Speaker 1>are wet. They're getting the you know flu like they're

0:15:56.560 --> 0:16:04.880
<v Speaker 1>getting sick. They're getting you know, so like cats, thermal's uh, flashlights,

0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:13.240
<v Speaker 1>battery tacks, you know. Uh so so yeah, I mean

0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:16.400
<v Speaker 1>it just again, it became so much more than we

0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:19.560
<v Speaker 1>ever imagined. And now we have two warehouses where you know,

0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.560
<v Speaker 1>companies are donating their pallets. Paletts are these kind of

0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.240
<v Speaker 1>wooden things that you you stagg the boxes on that

0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:30.960
<v Speaker 1>you've didn't wrap up and uh send overseas or put

0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:33.600
<v Speaker 1>on you know, put load up in the container. And

0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.920
<v Speaker 1>you know tomorrow we and and and this has kind

0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:41.760
<v Speaker 1>of now picked up steam and gotten some eyebols, you

0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:46.200
<v Speaker 1>know from not just media but also some government officials.

0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:47.960
<v Speaker 1>You know, I want to give a huge shout out

0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:52.040
<v Speaker 1>to Mark Suckledge, the mayor of four Lead, because he's

0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:57.880
<v Speaker 1>here packing things every day. The fire department, the police department,

0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:03.360
<v Speaker 1>volunteering in their free time. And uh and uh it's

0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:07.120
<v Speaker 1>um you know, now the governor, we have the Governor's

0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.840
<v Speaker 1>attention of New Jersey. We have the senator, Senator Booker's attention.

0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:14.399
<v Speaker 1>Uh and so yeah, you know, they can alleviate a

0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:18.080
<v Speaker 1>lot of the costs from you know, because now back

0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:21.160
<v Speaker 1>to the cost. You know, the volunteers are helping with everything,

0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:25.679
<v Speaker 1>but then actually getting the you know, getting it on

0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.679
<v Speaker 1>the boat or getting it on the plane, ideally on

0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:32.760
<v Speaker 1>a plane uh two to get there faster is it

0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:35.639
<v Speaker 1>costs a lot of money. And that money is you know,

0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:39.960
<v Speaker 1>that's why we started go funding page, and of those

0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:44.199
<v Speaker 1>of money that that is collected through that fund is

0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:48.720
<v Speaker 1>going to pay for all of this incredible donation, uh

0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:52.800
<v Speaker 1>to to get to the folks in Ukraine. So listen,

0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.439
<v Speaker 1>I'm not Mila Kunians or Ashton Ashton Kutcher. You know,

0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:59.320
<v Speaker 1>I can't raise thirty million in three weeks. But you're

0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:03.240
<v Speaker 1>doing pretty I'm good. I would say we're doing our best.

0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:08.119
<v Speaker 1>And uh, you know it's kind of we're you know,

0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:11.639
<v Speaker 1>the Ukrainian people in Ukraine and and and just beyond

0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:15.200
<v Speaker 1>Ukraine kind of where the world is mobilized and against

0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:36.520
<v Speaker 1>uh an evil situation in many different ways. Yeah. Well,

0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:39.119
<v Speaker 1>I think that for those of you listening that have

0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:42.000
<v Speaker 1>been feeling a certain way towards this and want to

0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:44.880
<v Speaker 1>help and haven't had uh, you know, maybe you don't

0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:47.640
<v Speaker 1>have the information to know what to do or where

0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:51.800
<v Speaker 1>to go or what's reliable and legit. Um, go to

0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:54.960
<v Speaker 1>VAL's Instagram and go to their page. How do you say,

0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.480
<v Speaker 1>because I want to budget pan Nova? What what? Well?

0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:02.639
<v Speaker 1>In Russian it's you, that's the thing in Russian, And

0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:09.080
<v Speaker 1>now I gotta say, you know, um in in the

0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:14.000
<v Speaker 1>way we would say it would be but right, but yeah,

0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:16.520
<v Speaker 1>but you know, we don't roll our rs in English,

0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:20.719
<v Speaker 1>so it's you know, it's been pronounced Baranova, Baronova, you know, so,

0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:24.480
<v Speaker 1>but I don't know what seven and yeah, okay, we'll

0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:26.359
<v Speaker 1>check it out. If you guys want to help out,

0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:31.160
<v Speaker 1>please we encourage you too, and vow thank you so

0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:35.000
<v Speaker 1>much for coming on. I obviously love speaking with you.

0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:37.439
<v Speaker 1>But this is so important and it's so relative to

0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:40.160
<v Speaker 1>what's going on right now obviously, so I'm very glad

0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:42.280
<v Speaker 1>that we could have somebody who's educated, who has a

0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:45.280
<v Speaker 1>personal connection to it and that's doing the work and

0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:47.960
<v Speaker 1>really making a big impact come on the podcast and

0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:51.320
<v Speaker 1>talk about it. Thank you, Thank you so much. Thank

0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:55.960
<v Speaker 1>you for showing the interest. You know, it starts with that,

0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:58.880
<v Speaker 1>and then you know, kind of blossoms into more than that.

0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:04.119
<v Speaker 1>But yeah, I just want to encourage young people to

0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:06.919
<v Speaker 1>understand that this isn't just about Ukraine. This is just

0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:12.840
<v Speaker 1>it's about your future, you know, collectively. Uh. And if

0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:16.520
<v Speaker 1>we don't do something about this particular situation here, that

0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:21.399
<v Speaker 1>we're setting a precedent for it too being done elsewhere

0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:23.760
<v Speaker 1>as well. And I just don't want that type of

0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:26.920
<v Speaker 1>future for myself. I want that type of future for

0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:33.200
<v Speaker 1>my kids. Uh. And uh yeah, when whenever you hear geopolitics,

0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:35.480
<v Speaker 1>it's not you know, it's not that simple, and it's

0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:40.400
<v Speaker 1>I promise you it's you know, in some regard. Yes,

0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:43.959
<v Speaker 1>that is a there's a fancy words for you know,

0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:46.600
<v Speaker 1>there are many different complex topics. I promised you this

0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:50.600
<v Speaker 1>is very simple. It's very simple. People are dying, you know,

0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:56.440
<v Speaker 1>like hospitals are being bombed, and kids are left fatherless

0:20:56.520 --> 0:21:02.000
<v Speaker 1>and motherless and and sometimes you know, mostly and most

0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:05.960
<v Speaker 1>of the time homeless. So um, you know, we could

0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:10.800
<v Speaker 1>we could unpack all of those complex conversations afterwards. Uh.

0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:13.240
<v Speaker 1>And and this is not about politics, right, I wanted

0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:17.560
<v Speaker 1>this conversation to clearly be not about politics and more

0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:24.240
<v Speaker 1>about humanity, you know. So yeah, and I want to

0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:26.160
<v Speaker 1>say thank you. I want to say thank you too.

0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:28.879
<v Speaker 1>Like I said, all the people that rally behind the

0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:31.680
<v Speaker 1>cause that have nothing to do with train or Russia

0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:35.360
<v Speaker 1>or Eastern Europe or any of this, you know, it's

0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:38.200
<v Speaker 1>it's really motivating for me. Like I'm gonna say, it's

0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:42.639
<v Speaker 1>like I've always been kind of leaning towards helping people

0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:47.240
<v Speaker 1>in need. But man, after this, the way people rallied

0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:49.439
<v Speaker 1>for for something, you know, the way people responded to

0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:55.720
<v Speaker 1>me needing something. Man, I will ride for people all day,

0:21:55.840 --> 0:21:58.399
<v Speaker 1>even if I don't really mess with that topic matter,

0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:01.119
<v Speaker 1>I would show up. There's a march, I will show up.

0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:04.600
<v Speaker 1>And in general, just quick, you know, quick two cents

0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:08.880
<v Speaker 1>about this country, like this is a great example for

0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:13.160
<v Speaker 1>the reality that can exist here. If we're not more

0:22:13.160 --> 0:22:15.480
<v Speaker 1>empathetic to each other, if we're not more patient with

0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:18.400
<v Speaker 1>one another, if we stop, you know, looking at each

0:22:18.400 --> 0:22:21.320
<v Speaker 1>other as humans and continue to just see each other

0:22:21.560 --> 0:22:24.800
<v Speaker 1>through the lens of the internet, and how we're portrayed

0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:27.000
<v Speaker 1>by people that have nothing to do with us, you

0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:29.480
<v Speaker 1>need to get out. We need to see each other,

0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:31.960
<v Speaker 1>and we need to connect with one another, and we

0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:34.399
<v Speaker 1>need to even if we disagree with each other. We

0:22:34.440 --> 0:22:37.200
<v Speaker 1>need to respect one another and support one another because

0:22:37.760 --> 0:22:40.800
<v Speaker 1>you know, push comes to shove and then it's it

0:22:40.880 --> 0:22:45.560
<v Speaker 1>becomes it spirals out really quickly. So you know, let's

0:22:45.560 --> 0:22:51.800
<v Speaker 1>support each other's protests and civil discourses and the ability

0:22:51.880 --> 0:22:54.879
<v Speaker 1>to stand up for what we believe is right. And

0:22:54.920 --> 0:22:59.040
<v Speaker 1>even if you you know, are not impacted by that cause,

0:22:59.200 --> 0:23:01.679
<v Speaker 1>like you know, just show up to that protest and

0:23:01.760 --> 0:23:04.040
<v Speaker 1>just just be there, Just be there, make people feel

0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:07.680
<v Speaker 1>like you're they're being hurt, you know, because that's really important. Yeah,

0:23:07.880 --> 0:23:13.480
<v Speaker 1>for sure, thank you, thank you, thank you for coming

0:23:13.480 --> 0:23:13.640
<v Speaker 1>on