PHX Reporter

Residents of the Valley have come together to send relief supplies to the people of war-torn Ukraine, including hundreds of boxes carrying thousands of different medical supplies.

People who are first-generation Ukrainians and others with ties to the region volunteered last week to prepare the boxes and ship them to the country. The volunteers worked at the Ukrainian Culture Center at 730 W. Elm St. in Phoenix. For many Ukrainians, it was something they felt was necessary.

“It’s the least, basically that I could do is be here and help with this,” Anastasia Glazunova, a second-year medical student at Midwestern University, said to ABC15. Glazunova was born in Ukraine, and she said she was grateful that so many turned up to help.

“Bringing so many medical supplies. Like, this is awesome. So many boxes,” she said.

The war has torn many Ukrainian families apart. Some who participated in the volunteer work either left family members to come to Phoenix or still have relatives there. For them, the relief effort was one way they could help those from back home who are still living with the invasion.

Halyna Shershun recently arrived in the U.S. after fleeing Ukraine. She said she is worried about those she left behind, including her husband, who is a doctor in Ukraine and refused to leave. Shershun's daughter, Olena Melnyk, is with her in the U.S.

“It’s very hard. My heart is torn in three pieces. One here, one in Slovakia, and one back in Lviv,” Shershun said in Ukrainian, according to ABC15. “We will not forgive Russians.”

Despite the hardships that the families face and the pain of being separated from their friends and family back home, the Ukrainian-American immigrants are pleased with the support and aid being sent to their countrymen and appreciate the opportunity to help the cause.

Christine Boyko said she and her husband, both of whom are first-generation Ukrainian-Americans, felt a responsibility to help those in their ancestral homeland.

“It is unbelievably, overwhelmingly heartwarming to see this going on,” she said to ABC15.