There has been no shortage of organizations and people stepping up to help the people of Ukraine.

Helping the children of war is what Roman Bosak set out to do on his recent humanitarian aid mission to the most dangerous areas in Ukraine – it’s where the need is the greatest.

“So what we’re going to try to do is find these kids, hand out the boxes of hope to them, give them some food,” Bosak said.

Just back, Bosak shared the story of his third journey to Ukraine in the past year. He represents Guardians of Hope. He and his team bring food, medical items and supplies to people and soldiers. The donations come from across the state and country.

“We had 3,000 shoe boxes from Guardians of Hope that were boxes of hope that we were supposed to deliver to the kids. So we took those boxes with us and we went to the front-lines,” he said.

Along the way, they witnessed devastation.

“This is the aftermath of a Kamikaze drone from Iran it hit one of the Ukrainian tanks,” he said. “They destroyed a church, like really? A place that people would come to pray they bombed and destroyed.”

“So this is somebody’s living room in a house and that took missile fire directly at it,” Bosak continued. “You know, it’s sad that people are going through that and that’s somebody’s house they built hoping they were going to live in there forever, pass it down to their kids. And entire villages just destroyed.”

Bosak talked from the comfort of his own living room, in the very home he shares with his wife and three young children.

“It’s like you come and you’re like man, my kids are warm, they’re safe, they have food in the refrigerator, they have water, they have heat, a roof over our head, and it just, like, breaks your heart thinking of all those kids that are in these basements,” he said.

So Bosak and is team bring special boxes for the children from Guardians of Hope and backpacks donated by Buffalo Gives.

“You see that they’re so happy, this is the only gift that they got all year,” Bosak said.

“He’s saying he’s very grateful to the people in America that provided these boxes to them because it’s very difficult for them during the time of war,” Bosak explained. “They see a lot of missiles flying overhead and a lot of military helicopters and airplanes flying around and they’re just saying how scary it is to live now in this time and environment. They’re so thankful that we were able to get them the gifts.”

Along the way, Bosak describes the experience.

“This little boy Max, we visited him and the Russians caught his father, they murdered him in the basement, they tortured him,” he said. “Two months later, his mom was walking in the field near the garden and she stepped on a land mine. This little boy lost his mom and his dad in a matter of just two months, and this is the reality of so many kids in Ukraine.”

The next mission for Guardians of Hope is to start an orphanage for children that have lost their parents.

“We want to start an orphanage and a lot of these kids that lost their parents that don’t have anybody or anything. We want to be able to take those kids into our orphanage and give them a chance at a better life.”

Visit TheGuardiansofHope.Org to make a donation. One year since the war started, and the needs are great.