Tucson, Arizona (Cold News 13) – As the war in Ukraine continues, Tucson residents are stepping in to help.
According to the United Nations, more than 5,000,000 Ukrainians have fled their homeland to neighboring countries.
Poland has taken in nearly 3,000,000 Ukrainians, and this is where local residents work to bring much-needed resources to refugees and their pets.
“I don’t think that if you had told us six months ago that we were going to sit in Poland, we would have believed you. But the situation has become much more dire,” said Liz Becker, CEO of Greater Good Charities.
Toxonan, Baker and Noah Horton arrived in Poland this week, but a ground team from the charity has been working with refugees since March.
Baker and Horton join the team to help come up with a long-term plan to provide assistance to Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country.
“The plan is to continue to provide this level of support and this helps us do that more efficiently and effectively,” said Horton, director of operations for the major major charities. “Being able to see firsthand the processes and exactly how they are happening allows us to distribute these resources in the most effective way.” .
The team supports refugees and their pets with donations of food, medical supplies, veterinary care, and more.
So far, the team has distributed 200 tons of pet food and more than 6 million meals to refugees in Poland and other neighboring countries.
“There’s a resource issue here. There’s a resource issue getting things in. Even at the food bank, we’ve been talking about how hard it is to move things with the fridge right now and they just commented, ‘You know these poor people have been eating the same canned food for weeks,'” Baker said.
The couple was only there days ago, but they told me what they saw was unfathomable. They are amazed at the strength of the Ukrainians as well as the kindness they have seen in the neighboring countries.
“The spirit of the Ukrainian people and the way their neighbors come forward to help is something that will definitely stick with me,” Horton said.
They hope that their fellow Tuscans back home will learn something from their mission.
“We hope it inspires people all over the world to come forward and do something. I don’t just talk about Ukraine, I talk about it in their daily lives,” Becker said.
During their time, Baker and Horton will travel to a number of cities in Poland and volunteer at food banks, animal shelters, and women’s and children’s centers before leaving on May 5th.
If you would like to donate to relief efforts to help Ukrainian refugees, or follow the mission of Greater Good Charities, you can find more information here.
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