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SAVANNAH, Ga. () — It’s been five months since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine and volunteers say aid is needed now more than ever as local supplies are running low and shelters start to close.
Uliana Gonzalez is originally from Ukraine but now lives in Savannah. She said it still pains her to see her home country — where her parents still live — destroyed.
“You’re just like sitting on the island and watching through the screen how someone is torturing, destroying, raping your friends, your family, comes into your house and destroys everything,” Uliana said. “Help is needed even more now and the country’s getting more and more destroyed, we have more displaced people and people in need.”
first introduced Uliana in April as she collected aid to ship overseas. After a three-month journey, it’s now in the hands of Ukrainians.
“They’re sending us thank you for anything we do here locally and it does help a lot people over there,” she said. “It’s just heartwarming to know that we made that impact and made people happy for a moment with all the help here.”
In July, Savannah Supports Ukraine, an organization Uliana founded, raised $20,000 from a gala to help support Doctors Without Borders and cover the cost of transportation for humanitarian aid.
Now, Uliana is asking for the community’s help again to fill another container with about 1,000 boxes of supplies. Months into the war, she said it’s important to not forget about it and the millions of people affected.
“We just need to find a second breath,” Uliana said. “We are the second front here. We are not on the front line but we do support the front line and they need our help, they appreciate it and they wouldn’t stand that long without our help here. We will win and rebuild the country and we’ll all celebrate the victory together.”
If you’d like to donate, here’s how you can help:
- Until Sept. 17, you can drop off supplies at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Savannah
- There will be a donation drive at Villa Marie on Isle of Hope from Sept. 12-17, which is when Uliana plans to send to shipment to Ukraine
- For more information, visit the Savannah Supports Ukraine website or email [email protected]
