HARTFORD, Conn. — A huge donation truck from the Ukrainian National House in Hartford packed to the brim with locally donated medical supplies is headed to an airport in New Jersey and then shipped to Poland.
The donations will help the millions of refugees that have fled Ukraine and those that are still in the heart of the devastation. Local volunteers worked for days to pack and sort the items.
"It makes us feel good that we’re able to do something to help the people of Ukraine, said Myron Kolinsky, the organizational director of the Ukrainian National Home in Hartford.
The thousands of pounds of medical supplies are being sent right after a deadly Russian bombing on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine.
"We've been overwhelmed by the response of the community, we obviously have been watching what has been happening in Ukraine. Yesterday‘s events are just heartbreaking," said Kolinsky.
He says he has family back in Ukraine and the Ukrainian-American population in Connecticut expands across the state.
"We had people dropping off donations here and they were saying 'my grandmothers from Ukraine, my grandfather my great grandparents were from Ukraine," said Kolinsky.
The Credit Unions in Connecticut also answered the call for help. They raised $50,000 to pay for the shipping costs overseas.
"We are going to welcome refugees, we’re going to help our communities that are here and suffering whose hearts are overseas. We will help them with money and resources here in Connecticut," said Bruce Adams, President of the Credit Union League of Connecticut.
Another shipment is going to be sent on March 24, focused on food, clothing and blankets, among other items.
"The downstairs hall is full top to bottom of other supplies and there are shipping containers in the back or pods that are full," said Adams.
Donations are still accepted along with monetary donations that would help with shipping costs. That information can be found here.
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