Staff report
Suspended local attorney Ben Dusing is headed to Ukraine for a fourth time, for at least 6 weeks, and plans to dedicate the remainder of 2022 to the people of Ukraine.
Dusing went to the Ukrainian-Polish border twice earlier this year and was the object of international media attention as “Ben the Bunny” in a costume welcoming refugees at the border crossing and bringing smiles to children escaping the atrocities in their war-torn country. On his third trip, he traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, to escort a refugee from her home to safety in the U.S., and in the process saw indescribable devastation and suffering of the civilian population within Ukraine.
Dusing spent a year in Russia as a college student, working in Russia and learning the language — and his language skills have become a valued asset.
As a result of his volunteer role, his leadership in the refugee camp, and his Russian language skills, he became part of an informal but important international volunteer network, actively connected by the Internet. Keeping in touch with others like him, he has learned of the terrific need in Ukraine for tourniquets to treat those — particularly civilians — wounded in the war.
Since he is still waiting out a decision from the Kentucky Bar Association, he has decided to put his time to good use — in service to the suffering people of Ukraine.
“This is a completely different trip, Dusing said. “I’ll be in Ukraine this time, especially eastern and southern Ukraine, rather than at the refugee camp in Poland. Now it’s about getting aid, supplies, help, and love to the populations that cannot get out of the country.
“It translates to saving human lives — and the situation couldn’t be more serious.”
He has started an organization, “Ben for Ukraine,” to support his efforts and is seeking donations to defray the significant costs of things like fuel for the vehicles his team will be using on the ground in Ukraine. They will be running supplies through the war torn country and to people in need who could not escape.
His funding model replicates those of his fellow foreign volunteers already on the ground there.
“100% of the donations will be used to support our efforts on the ground and every little bit helps. Every dollar will help save human lives and help alleviate human suffering few of us can even imagine.”
Joining him on the trip is John Gardner, his longtime friend and employee, who is eager to help on the ground.
“I’ve seen up close how committed Ben is to helping the Ukrainian people, and I understand why,” Gardner says. “We can make a huge difference and it’s desperately needed right now.”
A refugee family now resettled in London, England, credits Dusing with saving their family and helping them when they couldn’t get help anywhere else. They say he has a “big heart” and that they want to people to know the extraordinary difference he’s made for them and countless other refugee families.
Fellow Americans “Rocky and Emmy” of Santa Fe, New Mexico, are now volunteering in Lviv, Ukraine. They served with Dusing at the Polish-Ukrainian border in April. He will be linking up with them again and collaborating on relief missions.
The team Dusing is putting together will be running aid all over Ukraine to the places where it is needed, helping to get supplies to those in need, and evacuating civilians from the various war zones.
There is risk involved, he admits, but he says “human lives are worth taking risk for.”
Dusing says his network contacts report that quality tourniquets are the single most important item the volunteer effort is in need of at the moment.
He asks anyone who has access to quality tourniquets to get in touch with him. High quality tourniquets, it turns out, are in short supply around the world.
“If they get the tourniquets to me, I’ll personally see that they get to the fronts in the East and South,” Dusing says, “which is where they are desperately needed.”
Dusing has seen the suffering and devastation in Ukraine firsthand, where people have lost their homes and belongings and are suffering from untreated wounds that bands of international volunteers are trying to address.
Dusing and Gardner expect to leave on September 12 and return at the end of October.
“My number one job is still to be the best dad I can be for my kids, which means being active and involved in their lives,” Dusing said. “They are so supportive of what I’m doing, and frankly I wouldn’t do it if they weren’t. Our family values are that we have an obligation to help those who need help, especially the least of our brothers and sisters.”
Dusing had no comment on the status of his law license other than to say he respects the Kentucky Bar Association’s process and continues to cooperate with it.
Contributions to “Ben for Ukraine” can be made at https://gofund.me/bf3bc679.
See a related NKyTribune story about Dusing and U.S. Attorney’s office here.