Lincoln travel company and brewery work together to help fleeing Ukrainians

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) -With the war between Russia and Ukraine 5,000 miles away, businesses in the Capital City are still finding ways to help. A Lincoln travel company and a brewery are working together to help Ukrainians fleeing their homes.

Executive Travel launched a program called Operation Safe Harbor Ukraine. They’re currently providing housing, food and basic necessities to displaced Ukrainians.

The program is on its fifth week and has no intentions of stopping anytime soon. Executive travel planned on covering expenses for Ukrainian refugees in Poland for just the month of April. Now they have May and June covered too.

“We’ve raised over $250,000, can you imagine that in five weeks,” said Steve Glenn, Executive Travel.

Glenn just got back from visiting the Operation Safe Harbor Ukraine Program. He said they started with 50 hotel rooms, housing nearly 200 people. They’re also covering travel costs for volunteers wanting to help.

“We continued to get support and we’d send people over there and they’d come back and tell their friends that “this is worth it, we’re making a difference,” said Glenn.

Safe Harbor isn’t just the name of the program. Back in the Capital City, it’s the name of a new local beer.

“Been looking for a way to help in a tangible way with the Ukraine crisis and this was just a no brainer and perfect opportunity for us to be able to help,” said Craig Reier, Zipline.

Zipline Brewing Company is launching the Safe Harbor Pale Ale, $1 of every pint sold is going toward war relief.

“What we thought was originally 30 days might be quite a bit longer,” said Glenn.

Glenn said that something that has surprised them about the program is that one in every three people who has come to the hotel has a medical issue of some sort. Now Operation Safe Harbor Ukraine is sending two nurses to Poland.

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