HARTFORD, Conn. — Donations continue to pour in across Connecticut to help Ukrainian families fleeing the war a world away.
A non-stop flow of cars at the Ukrainian National Home in Hartford on Monday evening. Volunteers unloaded hundreds and hundreds of bags and boxes filled with donations to go to Ukraine.
"Honestly I'm just so grateful for all of the support from all of our friends and neighbors and everyone in the community coming out from all corners to come help support us," said Alexa Kebalo Hughes of Tolland.
"I am so grateful, so grateful. Only together we can deal with the evil," said Lena Kiriyan of Newington.
People stepped up in a big way, dropping off more items than anyone was prepared for. U-Haul trucks were completely filled and boxes stacked up on the curb as volunteers tried to keep up.
"I'm feeling overwhelmed, knowing that there is so much support for people in Ukraine," said Petro Gluch of West Hartford.
Ukrainian-Americans in Connecticut were comforted to know that with the help of the community they are playing a role in getting their loved ones the help they need.
"We know it's going to the general area that most of our families are from so it's very encouraging," said Gluch.
"I have been texting my family saying hold on, we're working on it, and they've been encouraging us," said Kiriyan.
Inside the Ukrainian National Home, every room is now filled wall-to-wall with donations that will be shipped overseas.
Now the work begins. Everything will need to be sorted, and organized into different categories. Food items will have to be checked for expiration dates and volunteers will have to determine what else they still need.
"Just really kind of get everything organized, packaged up, labeled, in English and Ukrainian and then we're going to get things ready to be weighed, and shipped out to New Jersey," Kebalo Hughes said.
Shipping costs about $2.50 a pound, so people also donated money to help with that expense.
In New Haven, items were collected at St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church on Monday evening and had to stop accepting donations before the event ended because of the overwhelming amount they received.
Gaby Molina is a reporter and anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at mmolina@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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