KINGSTON, Wash. — Volunteers from a nonprofit based out of Kingston returned to the area following a two-week mission distributing relief supplies in Ukraine.
James Millard and Aaron Franklin of Empact Northwest helped procure and deliver more than 10,000 pounds of food, supplies and trauma kits to people displaced by Russia's invasion.
The tech workers were in Lviv, Bucha, Sheyni and surrounding areas.
Empact Northwest has been fundraising to support relief efforts. They purchased products within Ukraine to further support the local economies.
“We are one-hundred percent donation based and still have partners over there continuing the relief effort. We have the means, we have the ability, we have the people. We just need to keep the money flowing and keep the attention on the problem," Millard said.
Millard and Franklin said attention is typically focused on areas of Ukraine currently under attack, but there's concern many are being forgotten.
“They need the essentials - food, clothing and even things like tarps for the houses that have had their roofs blown off,” Franklin said.
The volunteers said that while they were there, a Ukrainian woman in her 80s invited them into her home to see what was left.
“The roof was gone and so was her livelihood,” Franklin said.
Rocket strikes destroyed much of her home and soldiers destroyed her roadside flower stand and garden.
“These are people who started off poor. They’ve now lost everything and have nothing.” Millard said.
Relief efforts continue by Empact's partners, they said.
Millard and Franklin said it’s important that out of sight isn’t out of mind.
“Right now we really do need the injection of donor funds to keep us actively involved in helping as many people as we can by keeping this mission going,” they said.