CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As the war in Ukraine continues, people in Charlotte are doing what they can to help.

 

What You Need To Know

 

Through the Facebook page Support Ukraine. Charlotte, NC, Sergiy Mysyk, along with other volunteers, are working to collect medical supplies to send to the country.  

"It’s very hard to get medical supplies of any sort into the country because of the war and broken supply chains,” he said.

He says they’ve shipped nearly 20,000 pounds of supplies, and they’ve raised nearly $40,000.

“So we are actually in the process of opening up a nonprofit,” he said. "It’s a good problem to have to raise such a large number of money, but it all already went. We have under $1,000 in the bank now. We’ve done as much as purchased a car for a volunteer group that needed it to transport these kinds of supplies to the front lines.”

Mysyk is originally from Ukraine. He says he moved to the U.S. about 22 years ago for college. Although he’s far away, he still has a lot of family in his home country.

Since there is a seven hour time difference, he says he stays up until 2 a.m. every night to speak to family to make sure they are OK.

“We have some family that is serving and close to the frontlines, and we are just kind of praying and hoping for them that they stay OK,” he said.

A lot of people are supporting the group’s efforts, such as a small business owner making earrings with the Ukrainian flag colors and raising money that way.

Mysyk says people can also help by connecting with a logistics company that can help them with shipping.

Volunteer Iryna Turner says they couldn’t do this without the help of everyone in Charlotte.

“We are immensely grateful for all of the people here in the U.S. who have brought all of these donations because it’s not just Ukrainians,” Turner said.

To find out how you can help and see a full list of currently needed items, you can check out their Facebook page.