March Update

As we post our final #febrUAry update, we want to thank all of you who have participated thus far. With your help, we have had 13 donors, thousands of impressions on social media, and over $10,000 (Including Rayobyte’ 1%) given to help in the humanitarian aid of the Ukrainian people. We write today to share that #febrUAry may be coming to a close, but the war rages on. Rayobyte wants to continue to bring awareness to the world that this war is not over. We proudly stand with the people of Ukraine and continue to ask you to do the same. Please read the FAQs to learn more on how you can still get involved.

2/24 Update

2/20 Update

• Medicine
• Medical tourniquets
• Body Armor
• Supporting local childrens shelters

Two solemn years ago, Russia invaded Ukraine.

The Russian government has made a point of doing whatever is necessary to take away the independence and rights of the Ukrainian people. But there is no place in this world for war and death. And for two long years, the people of Ukraine have stood strong.

At Rayobyte, we have tried our best to do our part in helping with this terrible situation. I’m proud of every team member for stepping up in the early months when 16 of our Ukrainian colleagues needed us most. Since then, Rayobyte leadership has been in constant communication with various team members to seek any way we can help and I’m hopeful we have provided that comfort and reassurance to our team members.

Unfortunately, I feel there is more to be done. I’ve been hearing stories direct from our team members of their own daily struggles, as well as the struggles of their family, friends, and relatives. There are friends needing better body armor because the government-provided armor is not optimal. Internet being cut out from certain bases due to bombings, leaving no chance to connect to with loved ones. Better boots for the front lines. And many more necessities that have been difficult for the Ukraine government to keep up with, leaving those individuals to ask for donations from friends and family.

I’ve been humbled and proud to hear that many of our team members have donated their own money to support the needs of these requests. It brings a warm heart to hear these stories of their selfless care for their people, and it truly inspires me to want to do my own part.

It is my hope and desire to use Rayobyte’ resources, influence, and voice to join in this effort. To be an ally, wherever we may be of service. I want you, our team members, to feel loved, supported, and cared for, in more ways than one.

This page is the start of a long journey. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I can promise that we will do our absolute best to support the country of Ukraine for as long as we can.

Together, we can create hope

February – A Month To Remember

Beginning in February 2024, we will launch the annual #febrUAry campaign. This month was chosen for its symbolic significance, though we are acutely aware that the conflict persists year-round. This is our starting point, and we hope it will be the first of many steps forward.

#febrUAry Ukraine Support Campaign:

Vision:

It’s unfortunate, but from my experience, most of the world isn’t thinking about this war every day. In fact, many people aren’t think about it at all. This is a tragedy in my eyes! The war still rages on… and just because CNN and FOX have other hot topics to air on TV doesn’t mean the rockets are still not flying overhead. In the West, especially, it’s unfathomable for us to emotionally understand what that could feel like, so it is my hope that with this campaign we can get the word out: the people of Ukraine need our help, and we cannot forget about them no matter how much time passes!

Plan

Rayobyte intends to fulfill this vision by the following initiatives:

GoFundMe

Rayobyte will be promoting its GoFundMe page that was originally created at the start of the war. The goal would be to raise as much money as possible, with all proceeds going to support Ukraine (more on “how will the money be used” below).

1% Of Revenues

Whether we can encourage other donors or not, we wish to make our own contributions to hopefully kick start the effort.

Therefore, Rayobyte will be donating 1% of its top-line revenue (not profit!) from the month of #febrUAry for this cause.

Communications

• Customers: We intend to be in front of our customers regularly to ask for their support, whether financially or with words of support.

• The world: Rayobyte will get the word out by getting itself in front of as much publication as possible. Whether donations come from this, we hope that simply reminding everyone that “this war is still going on, and the people of Ukraine could use your positive thoughts” will great goodness.

How will the money be used?

100% of donations will go to support the people of Ukraine in humanitarian efforts. We struggled with defining the perfect approach that could satisfy as many stakeholders as possible, but we believe our final framework does its best job.

Below you will find the Restrictions and Acceptable Donation guidelines we will be asking our guys to follow as the money gets distributed. Furthermore, we will strive to have as much money as possible accounted for in our Impact Ledger (more on this below, too).

Restrictions

After discussing with our Ukraine leadership, we have decided to restrict the funds from being spent on the following:

• It should not be spent or donated towards any effort that causes harm to another person.

  • This restricts donations directly to the Ukrainian government, drone efforts, guns, ammunition, and so forth. We recognize this is a sensitive spot for some, but it is Rayobyte’ stance to not support the killing of people, while we will give it our best to help saving people.

Examples of acceptable support

Here are some stories we’ve heard where we feel this money would have positive impact and we encourage our team members to support these types of cases:

• A friend is serving in the military and his boots don’t fit or are worn out. These funds could be spent to buy him a new pair of boots.

• A relative lost their home, and is struggling to make ends meet keeping up food, lodging, etc. Funds could help them.

• The army provides specific and sometimes limited necessities to be comfortable when serving (clothing, toothbrush, boots, armor, certain food, medicine, etc). Team members may spend these funds to help build up their own military packs so they can have it as comfortable as reasonably possible.

Impact Ledger

In this journey, each contribution creates a narrative of hope and resilience. We encourage our Ukrainian team to capture these beautiful stories, brought to life by your donations. Through texts, videos, and photos, they’ll illustrate the profound impact of each gift. These narratives will be compiled in our public Impact Ledger, serving as a testament to the meaningful differences your donations are making in people’s lives.

You can find the public Impact Ledger here: #febrUAry Impact Ledger

More FAQs:

How can I stay up-to-date with the latest efforts?

How can I show my support beyond financial means?

Please send a message of encouragement here to share your support. If they know they have the world’s support, this can go a long way. Your voice matters!

How will the funds be used?

We describe this above in more detail, but in short: donations will be given to Ukrainian people in need of humanitarian-related needs.

What does Rayobyte do as a company? Why this effort? What’s the history?

Rayobyte is a technology SaaS (Software As A Service) company that helps companies collect data at scale. If you’ve ever looked for flights online, hotels, or used a search engine like Google, then you’ve been a consumer of the data we help companies gather. Our history with this effort is that our very first full-time team member was Ukrainian through a Ukrainian agency, and 8 years later we now work with almost 20 team members in Ukraine. It’s deeply personal to us, and we want to help them in every way we possibly can