By Kidsave Staff
Since 2016, Kidsave has been deeply involved in reforming Ukraine’s overburdened child welfare system through our Family Mentoring Program and Corporate Mentoring Program. When the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, our team on the ground moved quickly into action to help rescue and provide aid to those in war-torn cities. What started as an operation to get the kids in our programs to safety soon expanded as our team answered the call to help people in danger across Ukraine. On this journey, we have developed partnerships with many amazing organizations and volunteers. One of these like-minded groups is PlebeianHelpers.
After Joe Cyr travelled to the Medyka border in April 2022, he founded this grassroots volunteer organization to help Ukrainian refugees. After witnessing the plight of the innocent civilians, he knew he wanted to do more. In July 2022, Joe brought eight PlebeianHelpers volunteers, including his daughter Catherine, on another trip to Ukraine and raised $50,000 with the determination that “every single dollar would be going towards Ukrainians in need.” Working with Kidsave and other NGOs, they provided food and supplies for Ukrainian refugees at the Medyka border and for Ukrainians still living in Ukraine. Since then, the PlebeianHelpers volunteers have been helping our team in Ukraine raise funds to aid thousands of Ukrainians.
Recently, a group of five PlebeianHelpers volunteers, including Catherine, made a third trip to Ukraine to distribute aid and volunteer.
“This trip was much larger in scale and scope in all regards,” said Catherine. Thanks to the help of about 23 volunteers, they secured approximately $150,000 worth of donations, enabling them to purchase essential medical equipment. PlebeianHelpers delivered the equipment to hospitals in need, in addition to food and other supplies.
While in Ukraine, the volunteers visited the construction site of Kidsave Miracles Center and worked alongside Pavlo and Olena, who have been the leaders of our team in Ukraine since the beginning of war.
“It was life-affirming,” said Catherine. “You’re just immediately in awe of the work, the courage, the humility, and the joy that they continue to bring to the work every single day.”
Although there was a language barrier between Kidsave’s Ukrainian team and the PlebeianHelpers volunteers, everyone still managed to bond with the help of Google Translate and a bit of conversation charades. After a tour around the Miracles Center, the PlebeianHelpers volunteers helped assemble over 20 beds for the kids. In addition, they also donated $10,000 for the construction of two kitchenettes.
The Kidsave Miracles Center will be multi-functional, with space for respite housing for orphans, recreation areas, meeting spaces, and social entrepreneurship opportunities. Thanks to the PlebeianHelpers volunteers, the center is one step closer to being a place for children and teens to feel safe, loved, and supported.
When asked what advice she would give younger people interested in volunteering, Catherine said, “Just say yes and start somewhere, even if it’s small, because that will open you up to a world of possibility.”
Catherine takes her inspiration for volunteering from her father, the man behind the organization she now helps to lead.
“When my dad made his first trip, there wasn’t a lot of planning. He just showed up. And I think so much of life is just showing up and saying yes,” said Catherine. “If you actually want to do the work, get attached to any organization that you trust and start showing up. That’s the best way to begin because then magical things unfold from there, exactly as it did for my dad, which then had a cascading effect on everyone around him that has now been drawn into what PlebeianHelpers has created.”
We are very grateful to have PlebeianHelpers as our partner, and we hope to change more lives in Ukraine together! Support our efforts at kidsave.org/ukraine/.
