Ukrainian Americans helping people back home

(NewsNation) — The war in Ukraine is tearing families apart, but all over the world it’s also bringing people together — united by their desire to help.

Dmytro Shcherbitskyi said he wanted to do more for the people of his home country. He felt bad watching what was happening to his family in the news.

Shcherbitskyi, an organizer at Meest International, a suburban Chicago shipping office, turned it into an Emergency Response Center,

Through his upstart relief effort, he put out a call for help on social media and donations started pouring in, so many that they ran out of room to hold all of them.

Shcherbitskyi was overwhelmed by the response and said he never expected so many donations from people from all over the world.

“Over a couple days, thousands of people are joining us,” Shcherbitskyi said during an appearance on “Morning in America”. “And we received, like so much humanitarian help from everybody.”

Meest volunteers have collected thousands of cans, blankets, toiletries, and first-aid kits.

Shcherbitskyi said all their warehouses are overloaded, so, “We got help from volunteering companies that share the warehouses with us.”

A company donated a part of its 25,000-square-foot warehouse and most of it is packed with supplies for the needs of children and women.

Shcherbitskyi says that he has never done anything like this before and are just proud that many people from that have come to support the people of Ukraine.

“I am so proud about our people about everybody who joined us with helping Ukraine and Ukrainian people,” he said.

As more than 2 million people now have fled the war, the humanitarian need is immense. The U.N. refugee agency has called this exodus the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

“It’s heartbreaking for all of us,” Shcherbitskyi said. “People cannot just sit and watch what is going on.”

Shcherbitskyi’s tireless efforts are an inspiration, as volunteers have reached out for ways to help.

Shcherbitskyi says that it is people of all nationalities giving support. Right now the focus is getting organized and getting the boxes filled and ready to ship out to those in need.

As the supplies make their way to Ukraine, Shcherbitskyi says, “Multiple groups here in Chicago are doing a lot to help.”