Our brave all-volunteer  combat medic Team Takmed  continues to provide aid and save lives in the southeast portion of Ukraine.

They came to us with a request for 12 Motorola radios so they would have better communications and also have the ability to tap into the military network.

 

This request was not in our budget but we realized how urgent it was needed.

There were very few of these radios on the new market and if we found one, the prices were extremely high.

I decided to look on the second hand market realizing that this particular Motorola model was almost indestructible.

 

I found two and contacted the seller who informed me that we would need to come to her location. Tanja and I drove to the address and noticed a short line of people waiting to enter. 

When it was our turn, we entered a very small room with a small glass window. We immediately realized that this was a mini Pawn shop! 

We paid the money and happily left with our 2 radios in like new condition. I wonder what agency is missing 2 radios.

 

I continued to look online and discovered 3 more. I contacted the seller and they asked for the intended location and usage for the radios, which I explained. 

The next morning a large muscular man in military fatigues, his wife and his two girls, with little notice, came to our hotel.

I grabbed the money and rushed down to the lobby to greet them. 

The man told me he would not sell me the radios . He would give me the radios as a donation. He then opened a bag and gave me 3 brand new radios in the unopened boxes.  The girl managing the reception of the hotel translated for us and when she heard the news, she began to cry and then the wife began to cry and the children did not know what was happening. The family hugged me and they were gone.

In the evening, I received a text from this same man saying he was in the neighborhood and on the way to the hotel. I again rushed down to the lobby to greet him and thank him one more time for his incredible donation.

He and his wife were in casual clothes and had come to the center for dinner. 

He smiled and gave me a bag which contained 4 more radios which were in new condition. He smiled and walked out the door.                                             

I stood in the lobby with the large bag in my hands and was in shock.

 

I found the rest of the radios online and had a total of 12 !

The next day I took them to the post and told them where they needed to go and why. 

Two days later they were in the hands of the team members and off in the ambulances for another 24 hour shift.