People are booking Airbnbs in Ukraine to donate directly to owners

Hilary Mak was at home in Surrey, England, earlier this month when her daughter shared an Instagram post about a way to send money to Ukrainians. The idea, the message said, was to book Airbnbs.

"It captured my imagination," said Mak, 59. "I have donated to charities, but I thought maybe this was a way to connect to people in an individual way . . . and to let them know that people are behind them and want to do whatever they can to help."

Mak found a rental in Kyiv and messaged the host telling her she wanted to help. The host responded immediately, Mak said.

"She said, 'Our children are sheltered in the basement,'" Mak, a psychiatrist, recalled, adding that the host sent a picture from the shelter showing her daughters bundled in winter coats and hats and eating on a bed next to their car. "She said, 'I hope you never know what war is.' "

"I just cried," Mak said. "It was very personal."

Mak is among thousands of people using Airbnb as an immediate and intimate way to help those living through war in Ukraine. Tens of thousands of nights have been booked in Ukraine from people around the world, according to an Airbnb spokesman, who added that by early March the total booking value was nearly $2 million.

The company waived all guest and host fees on bookings in Ukraine and said that operations in Russia and Belarus were suspended. Airbnb also announced it was offering "free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine," according to a news release.

The initiative to book Ukrainian rentals appears to have been started by Tommy Marcus, the creator of the social media account @quentin.quarantino, which promotes fundraising campaigns and posts political memes. In August, Marcus led a fundraising effort to help evacuate Afghans after Kabul fell to the Taliban. The effort later proved difficult to carry out after millions in donations poured in when the call for help went viral and charter flights out of Afghanistan were later canceled, a Post investigation found. Marcus did not respond to the Post's request for comment.

Susan Moray, 70, heard about the initiative on Twitter. The campaign felt personal, she said, since she gets her primary income from being an Airbnb host in her hometown of Portland, Ore. Moray considered what it would mean for her to suddenly lose that income. So, she decided to book a "stay" from March 5 through 8, the soonest option available since hosts get paid only once the rental begins, she said.

"I think any way you can get money directly to them is such a great way to help," Moray said.

Moray made sure to book a stay from someone living in Kyiv, rather than a corporation or hotel. Her host responded and thanked her for the support.

"We will use this money to help all those who need help in this difficult time — the elderly, women, children who stayed in Kyiv and need food, medicines, warm clothes," the host, Iryna, wrote to Moray in messages reviewed by the Post. "We have united a group of like-minded people and created a volunteer team that delivers everything people need."

Cass Kachel, 40, said she looked for single-bedroom listings, figuring that people who rent out a room in their house "probably need the income," she said. Kachel, a jewelry designer from Lancaster, Pa., booked a one-night stay for $60 and plans to do it again when she gets her next paycheck.

"The regular people, they're the ones who are hurting the most, they're the ones who pay the highest price and they're the ones who are suffering," Kachel said.

For Mak, the psychiatrist in Surrey, the most striking moment while looking for rentals in Kyiv was seeing the reviews from stays just a few weeks ago.

"This was just a city, which had a beautiful cathedral and where people wanted to visit as tourists," she said, " . . . and that's just gone in a week."

Mak has stayed in touch with her host, checking on how she, her husband and two children are doing. Mak said she has convinced friends and family to also book Airbnbs in Ukraine.

"We're just ordinary people living ordinary lives in freedom, and that's such a privilege," Mak said.