Since 2022, the Lexington Fire Department has been supporting Ukrainian civilians and soldiers by sending surplus medical supplies overseas.
Their efforts are carried out in partnership with Carlisle resident Jane Elliot. A former nurse, Elliot first volunteered in Western Ukraine in May 2022, providing leg and wound care.
During that trip, she met Jan Andersen, a former member of the Royal Danish Air Force and founder of the Ukrainian humanitarian aid organization Bright Jar. On the front lines, Andersen saw well-intentioned donations piling up at street corners, often unused, and began building a system to distribute supplies directly to hospitals and families in need.
When Elliot returned to Carlisle, she looked for ways to support Andersen’s growing operation from afar. That search led her to the Lexington Fire Department, which regularly accumulates surplus medical materials, including oxygen tanks, trauma equipment, and tourniquets.
“The state requires us to have specific amounts of equipment on every ambulance and a lot of it has a shelf life. It is great to see that instead of these materials being discarded, they are actually going to a worthy cause and people who actively need it,” Lexington Fire Department Lieutenant Brandon McKinney said.
Though the supplies travel thousands of miles and pass through active war zones, the process of getting them there has become streamlined.
“Elliot has been very important in facilitating the materials. She usually comes to pick up the boxes and prepare them to be sent to Europe and Ukraine,” McKinney told LexObserver.
The journey is still treacherous.
“Jan has put thousands and thousands of kilometers on his car,” Elliot said. “His windows have even been shot out by pro-Russian supporters.”
The donations provide more than just practical assistance. In long, grueling wars like the Ukraine–Russia conflict, soldiers and civilians alike are often depleted emotionally and psychologically.
“They’re exhausted, especially now that it is winter and they don’t have decent food,” Elliot explained. “Knowing that an organization like the Lexington Fire Department has stuck with it, in terms of donating, is a huge morale boost for the soldiers.”
For McKinney, the initiative represents one of the department’s proudest contributions.
“They are facing horrible circumstances, victims of a war of aggression,” McKinney said. “We’re grateful to be able to help in any way we can.”
He stressed that supporting Ukraine isn’t only the responsibility of governments: ordinary citizens play a vital role as well.
“It is just a drop in the bucket, but every little bit adds up, and we are proud to be a part of that assistance,” McKinney said.
In fact, those drops have built up. Elliot always tries to keep the donations to Ukraine as full as possible.
“I never ship just two or three boxes. I always try to send around six boxes, and our largest was 21 boxes, most of which were from Lexington,” Elliot told LexObserver.
As the Ukraine-Russia war continues, the stability of Western aid remains uncertain, with funding subject to political disagreements and delays. Yet Lexington’s Fire Department and Elliot hope their work can remain a constant.
“I am not going to stop,” Elliot said. “They need these donations.”