‘I wanted to stay longer’: Two Lincoln friends travel overseas to help Ukrainian refugees

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Two friends of over 40 years traveled thousands of miles to Warsaw, Poland, to bring donations and distribute supplies to over 50 families. They spent 10 days there as part of Operation Safe Harbor-Ukraine.

Arriving to the hotel where refugees were being housed, they witnessed several families in need right away.

The only outfit many had was sweatpants and long clothing, so summer items like short and short sleeves were needed. Donations from Lincoln Rotary Club that were brought also helped.

“They typically fled with one or two suitcases, and so they’re wearing the same clothes day after day,” Operation Safe Harbor-Ukraine Volunteer Vi See said. “They had run out of their personal care items. The supply room itself stocked over the counter medications. As you can imagine, there was a great deal of tension, anxiety, so lots of headaches, migraines, stomach issues.”

In their time, they managed the supply closet that the children’s toys were in. Board games were played, crafts were made, and meals were shared.

Food at the hotel was normally distributed later in the day, but many were hungry before then. Special food runs were made for snacks to feed those going hungry before meals.

“At noon, they were hungry,” Volunteer Jenny Cardwell said. “So the best was when we got ice cream a couple days, and you tried to hand it out and you couldn’t hand it out quick enough. One day we had strawberry and chocolate. It was so rewarding to be able to do some small things that made people feel better.”

Typically, volunteers go for 10 to 14 days, but they wanted to give even more. Cardwell said she would have stayed three months if she could.

“We had so many hugs, so many kids,” Cardwell said. “It was kind of hard to even stand in line because they’d be hugging you from behind, too. We helped a little bit, and it was a really amazing trip.”

More options to donate or volunteer through Operation Safe Harbor-Ukraine will continue as more refugees flee from the violence.