A Ukrainian woman living in New Hampshire is on a mission to help young mothers and their babies trying to survive the attacks in her home country.
Five years ago, Svitlana Konovalova and her husband came to the United States for work and started a family in Stratham.
Her best friends are back in Ukraine. They're young mothers who tell Konovalova they have nothing for their children.
"A lot of my girls, they had to run away to shelters and bunkers with newborn babies," she told us.
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This week Lana posted on Facebook that she was collecting donations for them and the flood gates opened.
More on Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Right away, a group of realtors from Berkshire Hathaway jumped into action.
"Everyone has said the same thing, it just makes me feel like we're doing something, it's not even close to enough, but it's something," said realtor Roxanne Barnes.
Within days, Konovalova's shed and her basement were full of cardboard boxes labeled in both English and Ukrainian.
A 16-foot trailer packed floor to ceiling with donations is parked in her driveway, and Konovalova expects to fill three trailers by the end of the weekend.
"People are so kind," she said. "It's really great, like, it's amazing."
In between the carloads of contributions, Konovalova checks in with her mom and grandmother.
She talked to them Thursday on a video app on her cell phone and told us they were praying.
Konovalova says at 86 years old, her grandmother is too proud to leave her country, so her mom is staying there with her — riding out the attacks at home.
"My most fear is that I would never see my mom," Konovalova said as she held back tears.
The worry is overwhelming, but the donations are a good distraction.
Konovalova says with the help of her New Hampshire community, she's not only shipping boxes of necessities, she's sending truckloads of strength.
"Ukrainians, we will never give up," she said.
She's collecting donations until Sunday. After that, everything will be transported to New Jersey, then sent with a humanitarian organization to Ukraine.
