(Pictured: Steve Rand hands supplies to a boy on one of the relief missions to war-torn Ukraine by a humanitarian group Rand co-founded.)

Steve Rand comes from a small town in rural New Hampshire, spending his life raising his family, serving the nation in the armed forces, and carrying on the family legacy as third-generation owner of the 100-year-old Rand Hardware store in the center of Plymouth.  

A dedicated Rotary Club leader, Rand’s passion for service to others stands as a defining characteristic of his life. Rather than slowing down as he turned 80 years old on Oct. 17, he has launched into courageous work by entering the war zone of Ukraine 10 times (and counting) to deliver humanitarian supplies and to help fund mental-health counseling to Ukrainian orphans, displaced children, and families. 

Rand and three of his friends co-founded the grassroots, non-profit organization Common Man for Ukraine right after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Connecting to fellow volunteers on the ground in Ukraine and Poland through their Rotary network, the Common Man for Ukraine members flew to the wartorn country and started with s simple question: How can we help?  

Fast-forward more than two years. Common Man for Ukraine has raised and delivered more than $3.5 million in humanitarian aid. Its relief convoys travel to Ukrainian orphanages, child safe houses, and front-line villages twice each month. Rand has help lead 10 of them. The convoys have delivered more than 2 million pounds of food, 10,000 sleeping bags, hundreds of portable generators, and dozens of tons of additional critical supplies.  

The efforts to help Ukraine’s most vulnerable – the children of war – also extend to their emerging mental-health needs. Common Man funds and helps organize the Children of Ukraine Health Retreat, a monthly residential trauma counseling camp for children whose soldier-fathers were killed or are missing in the war. The retreat is staffed by certified counselors, teachers, and doctors, providing more than 800 children with a three-week respite, group and individual counseling, and a community of peers who understand what they are going through.

At a time in life when many people deservedly slow down, Rand is showing what can be done with enough heart and will, regardless of age.

Anyone wishing to support Common Man for Ukraine can do so at commonmanforukraine.org.