CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – After visiting the wounded and taking shelter from airstrikes in Ukraine, an assistant professor of leadership at Austin Peay State University is leading fundraising efforts in Tennessee for the Ukraine military.
Andrea Rakushin Lee is co-leading the Tennessee Chapter of 50 States for Ukraine, a project with a current goal to raise $12,500 to buy a vehicle for the Ukrainian military.
“For a while, Ukrainians felt like America abandoned them, especially in the last year,” Lee told Clarksville Now. “When they see this (fundraising) it’s a morale booster, especially seeing people in America come together.”
Witnessing Ukraine war firsthand
Lee has made academic trips to Ukraine in recent years. Though she was never near the frontlines of combat, the war was everywhere in Ukraine. During her last trip to western Ukraine in late 2024, drones and missiles had expanded the war beyond Kyiv.
The reality of war set in the first time she heard air raid sirens going off, which often happened in the middle of the night. Lee explained that Ukrainians track the bomb alerts using an app that shows the entire country, divided up into provinces. During air raids, the app shows which province is getting hit, lighting up in red on the map. Only a few nights into her trip, Lee was woken up by sirens. “I looked at the map, and it was maybe 2 or 3 a.m., and the whole country was red,” Lee recalled.
She ran downstairs to take cover and was shocked to find that she was the only one. “It’s the middle of the night and (Ukrainian) people have just gotten so accustomed to it,” Lee said. “It’s like psychological warfare with all these attacks happening in the middle of the night. … After time – just constantly waking up from these air raid sirens – it’s very disruptive to your well-being. You just can’t function. I remember just being tired all the time.”
But nothing could have prepared Lee for her visit to a small town in Ukraine that became a place of R&R for injured Ukrainian troops.
“I was walking through the town, and everywhere there were amputees,” Lee recalled. “They were all over. There was one young soldier in his 20s that I would go out and talk to at night. His foot was partially blown off by a drone, and it just broke me. I’m 43, and he was old enough to be my son.”
Children of the Ukraine war
Lee’s trip eventually led her to the local schools. “All of those schools have bomb shelters,” she said. “Sometimes these students spend half of their day in these shelters underground, and they’re very gray, just gloomy and awful. I went to one school, and the students had painted murals all over the shelter. It was very touching but so heartbreaking at the same time, because this is how they’re living.”
One Sunday, she went with a group of injured soldiers to seven churches where the children sang as part of a group called the Circle of Kindness that raises money in Ukrainian churches to help purchase drones for the army. “I cried every time,” Lee said. “This group really touched me. The kids are precious and do this every Sunday at multiple churches.”
50 States for Ukraine
After Lee returned to America, she wanted to find ways to get more involved, and in September 2025, she joined the 50 States for Ukraine project and is now in charge of the Tennessee Battalion.
50 States for Ukraine is a nationwide volunteer fundraising campaign built around a simple idea: Every U.S. state can help support Ukraine’s defenders.
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The initiative, organized under Car for Ukraine (C4U), recruits “battalions” of supporters in each state, each working toward a shared goal: to fund and deliver 40, battle-ready pickup trucks for frontline Ukrainian units. According to the 50 States for Ukraine website, each vehicle (2010 or newer with low mileage) is purchased, refurbished, reinforced and outfitted for use under combat and harsh terrain conditions to save lives.
The campaign states that a single such “lifeline truck” can potentially save many lives. Their pitch is that these vehicles meet urgent, often overlooked needs – something not always addressed by larger aid packages. They have deployed 780 cars to Ukraine so far and are aiming to add the 40 trucks to that number.
So far, $157,230 has been raised across the 19 participating states, which means about 30% of the $500,000 goal has been achieved. As of November, six vehicles have been delivered to Ukraine.
For more, visit the 50 States for Ukraine: Tennessee Battalion website.
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