'I care deeply about every single one of my clients': Austin-area business consultant lends support to Ukrainian orphanages

Service
Kyiv800
Aerial view of Kyiv, Ukraine | Pixabay

Adam Lyons, a business consultant based in unincorporated Bastrop County, is doing the best he can to keep two Ukrainian orphanages financially stable amid the horrific backdrop of war.

The Paige resident is the brains behind The S.M.A.R.T. Blueprint, an outside-the-box business system that helps companies improve their productivity.

Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA reported that Lyons boasts a clientele of at least 2,000 companies.

And among his clients is Mark Davis, an entrepreneur who operates a nonprofit organization called Abundance International, that supports the orphanages.

According to WFAA, 50% of the charity's funding is from the Ukrainian government in the capital city of Kyiv, but the money is currently inaccessible because of the Russian invasion.

That prompted Lyons to swing into action.

"When the situation went down, I care deeply about every single one of my clients," Lyons told the station. "So I reached out to them directly and wanted to offer any additional assistance."

Lyons's plan is two-pronged. 

First, he set up a GoFundMe page for Abundance International, which has raised a little over half of the $500,000 goal. 

Second, he is trying to find access to cold-storage facilities in the vicinity of the orphanages. 

As of Feb. 28, the orphanages have delved into five days' worth of their three-week food supply, WFAA reported.

Lyons and Davis, who've known each other for 12 years, are working closely on monitoring the food supply and projecting the amount of food the orphanages will need.

"I think in times of crisis, people tend to knuckle down and do the work," Lyons told WFAA. "It's afterward that you tend to deal the emotional aftermath."

Boiling tension between Russia and its neighbor to the southwest came to a head on Feb. 24 when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a "military operation" in eastern Ukraine, where rebel strongholds loyal to Moscow are located, according to the Austin Journal.

Since then, Russian troops have moved their way toward Kyiv and Kharkiv, both of which the Ukrainian military are aggressively defending.

Meanwhile, civilians seek safety in neighboring countries or below the streets of their cities to avoid the escalating violence. 

The U.S. and its allies have assisted Ukraine by imposing tough sanctions on Russia, as well as sending Kyiv money and weapons, the Austin Journal reported.

For more on Lyons's efforts to support the Ukrainian orphanages, visit thesmartblueprint.com/orphans/.