KIRKLAND, Wash. — The iMiracle Project is a Kirkland based non-profit that has some powerful perspective behind their Ukraine Relief Fund effort.
The organization was founded by Serge Bagdasarov after he said he beat stage 3 brain cancer.
“I was inspiring people with my miracle story and many people began sharing their own miracle stories with me. Hence, iMiracle was born,” Bagdasarov said.
Bagdasarov admits his organization was intended to inspire but wanted to find a deeper purpose. It came calling when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. The Ukraine Relief Fund was established to support refugee family’s locally and overseas, with iMiracle Project jumping into action and helping to orchestrate a group of volunteers to collect and catalogue 120 tons of medical aid and 3,000 emergency trauma kits for Ukraine. Preparing that volume of supplies in 48 hours was an overwhelming feat, but Bagdsararov said he had lots of volunteers.
“Many of our volunteers are Russian. It’s important people know that because we make it clear on our website that it doesn’t matter what your nationality is — we as people need to unite and do what we can in a time of peril.”
The cause is personal for Bagdasarov.
“I’m a refugee child myself.”
Bagdasarov is Armenian and was born in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan, one of the former republics of the Soviet Union. He grew up speaking Russian and at the fall of Soviet Union, his family fled as refugees with three bags of clothing.
“I was that kid sleeping on the floor not knowing what tomorrow holds,” Bagdasarov said.
Bagdasarov said he always wanted to impact the lives of kids like him and when Ukraine needed help he jumped in to action. He still has family living in Ukraine and knows how urgent the need for action is.
“We are just getting started and launched our QR code for the Ukraine Relief Fund and I’m hoping more donors and local businesses will join us to expand our efforts. The long term goal for iMiracle Project is to help rebuild infrastructure like hospitals and orphanages for kids.”
The project has already received support from numerous local business and Bagdasarov said he’s hoping more people and companies will reach out to talk about fundraising ideas and how they can team up for greater impact. Financial donations are an urgent need but Serge says he can also greatly use your time as a volunteer.