NASCAR legend on helping Ukraine during Russian invasion
Richard Childress provides insight on NASCAR races and donating ammo to Ukraine on 'Fox & Friends Weekend.'
A shipment of one million rounds of ammunition donated by NASCAR team owner Richard Childress and Ammo Inc. is now waiting at the Ukraine border to be picked up by the country's armed forces.
Richard Childress walks through the garage area on Feb. 18, 2022, at Daytona International Speedway in Florida. (David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Childress, who is a member of the Ammo Inc. board of directors, announced in early March plans to send 7.62 rounds to help the country defend against the Russian invasion.
"We just had to help. I heard the president say, 'We don't want to leave, I need ammo,'" Childress told Fox News.
A demonstrator holds up an effigy of Vladimir Putin during a televised address by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Habima Square in Tel Aviv on March 20, 2022. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)
Ammo Inc. CEO Fred Wagenhals told USA Today the $700,000 shipment took just three days to reach the region, but that it's been held up by paperwork for over a week.
"It is very close to being received," Wagenhals said. "It is sitting right at the border, waiting on the defense minister of Ukraine to pick it up in the proper place."
Part of the shipment was manufactured in the U.S., but Ammo Inc. also purchased some European-sourced rounds for expediency.
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Other American individuals and companies, including Remington Ammunition, have pledged to send arms and equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces, but export license requirements make it a complicated process.
Members of the Ukrainian military wait out the shelling in the Luhansk region on March 5, 2022. (Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. State Department said in a statement given to USA Today that donating cash is the easiest way to help.
"Unlike material donations, cash involves no transportation costs, shipping delays or customs fees. It also enables relief organizations to spend more time providing aid by spending less time managing goods."
Richard Childress Racing is also working with Bass Pro Shops to help raise money to help Ukrainian refugees through the Convoy of Hope organization.