Update from Alex

[Alex]

Hi folks,

It's been a while. Sorry for being mostly absent for a long time. Lots has changed. I'm still trying to maintain this site, keep up with security updates (mostly on the backend) to make sure the site and the whole server is still running and serving the community. Earlier this year I even bought an upgraded vBulletin license intending to upgrade the forum software here and also I had full plans on updating all the scripts and macros for the most recent versions of CorelDRAW and Designer. And then the war in Ukraine started...

I'm Ukrainian myself and still have friends and family there. On February 24th with the full-scale Russian invasion our lives changed. In the first days and weeks we were glued to news footage. Then it became obvious that we needed to start helping. One of my brothers, Sergey, started volunteering, first by just using his own car to deliver food, water, medication to his neighbors who were sheltering in the basements of their building. Then as involvement grew, a whole network of volunteers had sprung up across Ukraine. Back in March, I started a GoFundMe campaign to help Sergey buy supplies for local people in eastern Ukraine, pay for fuel for deliveries, etc. Now we are funding much wider efforts through these donations. We have collected over $35,000 so far which were put to really good use. Please feel free to check out the Updates section of the fundraiser (https://gofund.me/ea1fae2e) to see what exactly we were able to achieve so far. I know many people wanted to help with relief efforts but might not know how to do so meaningfully. The money I collect are sent directly to Sergey who then uses them to cover volunteers' expenses as needed, be it to procure supplies, cover costs of transportation of goods to towns and villages close to front lines, or any other expenses as they arise from day to day.

I would really appreciate it if you can spread the word in your own social networks and help people find a way to help Ukrainians. If you use Facebook, feel free to just share my post: https://www.facebook.com/alex.vakule...9MynKX9NieEtJl