As tens, and by all counts, hundreds, of thousands of innocent people try to get out of the way of the conflict between invading Russian forces and Ukrainians defending their homeland, some people here may wonder how to help those civilians. 

As women and children are separated from husbands and fathers — Ukraine is telling its able-bodied men above the age of 18 they have to stay to fight — those refugees are now going to Poland or Romania or nearly a half-dozen other countries to get away from the bombing and shelling. 

Even those who have stayed behind soon will face shortages of food, fuel, medicine and more. 

For those inclined to try to provide comfort and aid to those who are now casualties of a war, getting help to those afflicted will not be easy. It will be difficult for even the most adept relief organization. 

If you are going to give money, make sure the organization you are sending a donation to is reputable and if you are going to go through a crowdfunding site, the Better Business Bureau suggests checking it out through Give.org. 

There are thousands of people, and potentially millions of people, who are going to need help. If you are interested in sending aid or donations to organizations providing relief, make sure the outfit is on the up and up. UNICEF (unicefusa.org) is one of many experienced and reliable organizations ramping up its efforts for Ukrainian children caught in the war. So too are the Catholic Relief Services (support.crs.org), as are Doctors Without Borders (doctorswithoutborders.org) and the Red Cross. 

You can find more ways to help here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/27/how-to-help-ukraine/?utm_source=Poynter+Institute&utm_campaign=6bcf3a2fa7-03042022+-+The+Poynter+Report&utm_medium=email

If you want to help, there are many ways to do so — make sure it’s going to the right place.