Ukrainians living in Charlotte collecting donations for those impacted by war

PINEVILLE, N.C. (WBTV) - Ukrainians living in the Charlotte area have started collecting money and supplies to send to members of their home country as the Russian invasion continues.

The grassroots effort is already underway. A group of Ukrainians has already rented out space in an office building off Nations Ford Road in Pineville.

Sergi Mysyk, a Ukrainian living in the Charlotte area, is one of the people who is helping to organize the donation effort.

“We’re really starting the effort here to collect some essential supplies to send back home that we know they’re short on,” said Mysyk.

Mysyk has been receiving firsthand accounts about what is currently happening in Ukraine. He said his parents still live there.

“It’s been really tough. You know today I was talking to my parents and midway through the conversation on Facetime, they had to run to a bomb shelter.”

It has only been a week since the Russian military began its invasion of Ukraine and already thousands of Ukrainian homeowners have become refugees. Many Ukrainian citizens have become soldiers, taking up arms to defend their homeland. Myla Rekut, a Ukrainian living in south Charlotte, has been closely following the invasion and communicating with friends and loved ones in Ukraine.

“They need money for gas. They need food. They need clothes. The country is kind of like shutdown. People are not working. They need our support as much as we can,” explained Rekut.

The Charlotte group has already collected clothing, first aid supplies, and diapers for infants. Mysyk said medical supplies are the priority right now, but for people who may not be used to fighting, all sorts of items will be of use.

“They’ve actually recruited just regular citizens to bear arms and they’ve issued ammunition to them and weapons, however they often don’t have enough supplies for them so they don’t have proper clothing. They don’t have just basic things like backpacks and pants and proper shoes to wear in the wartime,” explained Mysyk.

The Charlotte group plans to have all of the items that are collected shipped to Poland where Ukrainians will be able to access them and use them. They are welcoming donations from people who live in the Charlotte area.

You can contact the group through this Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/482165886685736/?ref=share

The group also provided several QR codes that can be used to access different fundraisers (see above graphic).

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