Two Steamboat Springs families, the Tumminellos and the Gilbertsons, are helping with humanitarian efforts across the world this summer including providing medical supplies to the front lines in Ukraine and helping construct water wells in Tanzania.

Doug and Lisa Tumminello are leaving Saturday for their third trip to Ukraine to bring medical supplies and donations to residents in need in conjunction with International Christian Assembly Kyiv. The couple will fly from Denver to Krakow in southern Poland and then take a train to Kyiv.

While the previous two trips focused on areas north and northwest of Kyiv, Doug Tumminello said the upcoming 10-day trip will focus on providing supplies and assistance in southern Ukraine in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, depending on current conditions.

The couple is funding their own travel and expenses, and he said donations from residents, friends, co-workers and the mission fund at Steamboat Christian Center are being used 100% toward medical supplies.

Tumminello, an Army veteran and lawyer, said the medical supplies are distributed through the Dead Lawyers Society in Ukraine, which supports hospitals on the front line of the war.

Through International Christian Assembly Kyiv, the Tumminellos’ efforts also help supply food, blankets, fire wood and fuel for generators for residents and churches that have been destroyed or damaged.

Todd and Renee Gilbertson and son Jacob recently returned from Tanzania where they, along with a small delegation of Water 4 Mercy supporters from across the U.S, helped to bring water to Iyoyo, a village of some 3,200 people.

“I am so glad to see that Water 4 Mercy has created a sustainable and credible solution for these villages in supplying them with water,” said Todd Gilbertson, a Steamboat-based mechanical engineer specializing in water processing and treatment.

“I am disturbed at seeing the amount of poverty that exists here in 2023,” Renee Gilbertson said. “They live like we did 100 years ago, so it is so sad to do this. But I am really impressed with the opportunity Water 4 Mercy is bringing to these villages to improve the lives of these people.”

“I have always known there was a lot of poverty, lack of resources and education in this region,” Jacob Gilbertson said. “But it is something else to see it firsthand. I am inspired by what Water 4 Mercy and its partners have done in terms of building a sustainable solution for water that will last for a long time.”

Water 4 Mercy is a nonprofit organization based in Florida that combines water access such as solar-powered water systems with agricultural solutions and community engagement that empowers villages in Tanzania.