Project Suitcases of Love: Chapter 2

San Francisco to Houston to Warsaw-red pickup full of suitcases

After months of persistent effort with unexpected logistical delays and bureaucratic disappointments, Barbara Cook, the organizer of a network of her family and friends succeeded. “Suitcases of Love” delivered an additional 20 oversized tightly packed suitcases of gently worn business attire, children’s clothes and gifts to refugee Ukrainian women and children.

The challenge of finding international transport became complex once the initial sense of urgency abated. Two weeks ago, Cook loaded a rented red truck to take the suitcases from Oakland to San Francisco. At the last minute, all the arrangements fell apart due to some administrative issue, but a shipping agent, who had been working with Cook, after hearing of the purpose and destiny arranged for the suitcases to be trucked to Houston, Texas and flown from there to Warsaw.

Barbara Cook was determined that the clothes and small practical items such as pencils and books would find a use among Ukrainian determined to support their children and themselves. In the first shipment in March accompanied by Mrs. Cook she wore a very warm but over-sized winter coat because it took up almost a whole suit case which she also gave to a Ukaranian lady named Maya. In a 48 hour turn-around from San Francisco to Warsaw and back, Cook saw up close the challenges facing the women. She made the initial trip with only part of the donated items to ensure that the intended purpose of the suitcases truly met the needs of the refugees. She returned inspired to make sure the project was complete.

In February and March, when the refugee women and children began streaming into Poland, Barbara Cook acted upon the memory to her family’s past as Holocaust survivors, her connections to the apparel industry, and her own determined pluckiness. Barbara Cook grew up in the United Kingdom. Her professional business life has taken her all over the world and she knows how to manage disparate challenges.

The Ukrainian women needed the tools to overcome their trauma as best as they could while they wait, work, and sustain their families. Feeling good about themselves in what they look and feel life is just the start of the next stage in their life’s journey.

In Warsaw on Wednesday, Marek Jezowski, the chair of the Progressive Jewish community, Beit Polska organized a distribution for the final delivery of “Suitcases of Love.” Since the suitcases were not accompanied and it took some wrangling before they were released through customs and finally loaded on to a waiting truck. Marek’s son Paul Jakob was a big help.

Emerging from the struggles of the pandemic and grappling with the arrival of 3 ½ million refugees has mobilized man, the efforts of the Barbara Cooks of the world were joined to the World/European Union for Progressive Judaism’s efforts and Beit Polska’s on the ground commitment. Apart from the benefit this effort has given to the Ukrainian refugees and their children, our collective hope is that other people are inspired to do great things for those in need. As one of the many donors to the “Suitcases of Love “project wrote “ The humble joy of giving cannot be overstated, the internal reward is unparalleled”