JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – After months of collection and shipping, a nonprofit run by local student Yaro Hnatusko successfully shipped thousands of pounds of needed goods to Ukraine.
Restore Ukraine was founded shortly after full-scale war broke out after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with the goal of returning residents of the country to a more comfortable standard of living. To meet those ends, a post by the nonprofit says 22,845 pounds of donated clothing and blankets are underway to Kharkiv, Ukraine.
“The collection and delivery of warm clothing and blankets to Ukraine was a laborious undertaking,” the post said. “We connected a number of colleges, churches and other organizations to gather the necessary supplies. Thank you so much to everyone who supported us!”
Donated goods were baled together and loaded into a shipping container before their journey across the world began. The container had to take a short hop to a shipping port before taking a long float over to Poland. Now, the container is moving hundreds of miles to reach Kharkiv, a heavily-bombed city in eastern Ukraine.
“These vital gifts from across the ocean have a brief journey ahead of them: inventory, sorting and delivery to the homes of Ukrainians who fled the war without possessions or valuables,” the post said. “They left their homes, belongings and memories in occupied territory — all of their lives, which had been happy until February 24, 2022. They require support now more than ever.”
