SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash — Yulia Clack is turning her friend's coffee roastery into a relief warehouse for Ukraine.
The grounds of Fofcee Coffee are packed with boxes of donations as the smell of roasting beans fills the air.
Yulia, her friends, and mother-in-law hurriedly open and sort boxes of donations.
They've been working around the clock for a week because they couldn't sit by and do nothing as Yulia's native Ukraine came under siege.
"I am heartbroken," says Yulia. "There are times I feel so helpless."
Yulia's entire family is in her Ukranian hometown, Zhovti Vody.
They're often forced to hide in bomb shelters as Russian troops continue their relentless assault.
"I Facetimed my brother and he turns the camera around and he shows me jets flying overhead," Yulia says. "We don't know if they are coming for them or are they coming for a neighboring community."
Yulia put out a call on social media for donations and in just a week she received more than 1000 boxes from her Amazon wish list.
Donations include everything from sleeping bags and survival kits to oatmeal and diapers.
A toddler from Texas donated two of her own Disney dolls for children of war.
Many of the donations are accompanied with notes of prayer and solidarity for strangers struggling to save their country.
"I know those people," said Yulia. "They're my family, my friends who reach out to me asking for help because they haven't eaten in three days."
Also sent to Ukraine, Yulia's husband, Nick, who traveled with 41 suitcases overloaded with supplies.
Situated near Krakow, Poland, Nick says he traveled to the Ukrainian border to make sure the donations got to the people in need, his wife's family included.
"I love them so much," he said, via Zoom. "It's really hard for her and I to not be there to physically help so this was a great way to do what we can to help out."
"He loves not just me," said Yulia. "When he married me I feel like he married our family, our nation. We're not just relatives to him. He's taking care of Ukrainians and that means the world to me."
Yulia plans to continue sending boxes of supplies as soon as possible, but shipping is getting expensive.
Her friends have set up a Go Fund Me to help with those costs.
Nick plans to return to Ukraine in about a month for another mission.
His journey with Yulia is a story of love during wartime, and a commitment to care for family regardless of blood.
"I am forever grateful," said Yulia. "People in Ukraine cannot thank everyone who is helping, so I want to say thanks on behalf of them. Hope is the only thing we have right now."