As the war between Russia and Ukraine unfolded, sophomore Ben Kras saw firsthand how much the crisis impacted his mom, who is from Kharkiv, Ukraine, a city that has been under attack for weeks. 

“Seeing her be so upset by this, and also seeing how Ukraine has grown as a country—becoming a democracy and a free nation—that Russia is essentially trying to recapture is really devastating,” Kras said.  

So Kras decided to organize a fundraiser here to donate towards Ukrainian relief.

With the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, food and necessary resources are becoming scarce in Ukraine. Millions of people are also fleeing to neighboring countries with only the items they can carry leaving them without the things they need. It’s one of the worst refugee crises in recent history.

 Kras set up a bin in the upper commons for students and staff members to donate helpful items. 

“People could donate various different items that an organization called Meest Karpaty was asking for,” Kras said. “Mostly medical and first aid supplies as well as blankets, flashlights, non-perishable food, stuff like that.”

Meest Karpaty is a package and freight distribution company that ships between the United States and Eastern Europe. Recently, they started shipping parcels with necessary supplies to the International Charitable Foundation “Meest” in Lviv, Ukraine, a city near the Ukraine-Poland border. The donations are then distributed to 50 charitable organizations throughout Ukraine. 

The donations that Kras received were taken to the Gordon Center where Meest Karpaty was hosting a drop-off. 

“After World War II, everyone was saying ‘never again,’ although on a much smaller scale with not as much of the terror or the immense casualties, it is happening again,” Kras said. “I think it’s best to try and create as much of an impact as possible even though we can’t really help directly.” 

More LFHS students are aiding Ukraine by raising money. Junior Tally Feingold hopes to set a GoFundMe for students to donate.  

“I’m trying to start an opportunity for people to donate so they’ll be able to fund raise in their social studies classrooms across the school,” Feingold said. 

Feingold has not picked an organization to donate to but hopes to set up her GoFundMe on Monday, May 18. 

She decided to help with Ukraine relief efforts because the conflict had a great emotional impact on her. 

“I have a close friend from [Ukraine] and just have seen a lot of news articles that have made me really feel for what is happening there,” Feingold said. 

The Human Rights Club is also planning to donate to an organization aiding Ukraine. They’re hosting a bake sale in May where all the proceeds will go to Palianytsia, an organization based in Lviv, Ukraine, that helps Ukrainian refugees by providing them with food and shelter. In total, Palianytsia has raised $1,288,227 to go towards helping Ukrainian civilians. 

“Palianytsia focuses on helping Ukranian refugees while also providing psychological and legal services, which I thought was very important to those who are forced to leave their homes,” President of the Human Rights Club Alia Attar said. “This aspect can sometimes be overlooked during humanitarian crises.”

They have many different options for ways to donate which can all be found here. 

Since the conflict is still ongoing, there is still time to help and many different organizations to donate to, Kras said.  

“It is worth it to try and put an act of hand and see what we can do,”  Kras said.