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Rollins College graduate helping Ukrainian refugees in Poland
Rollins College graduate Lindsy Mooser is helping Ukrainian refugees cross the border into Poland, and settle into new lives.
WINTER PARK, Fla. - Rollins College graduate Lindsy Mooser is helping Ukrainian refugees cross the border into Poland, and settle into new lives.
"It's happiness and sadness," she says. "It's happiness I can be here and help, but at the same time such heartbreak for these people and hearing their stories."
Polish aid volunteers with the Copernicus Group say refugees arrive needing food, clothes, and places to stay.
"They usually don't have anything with them. Just one small bag and nothing else. So we really have to organize everything," says Dominika Sobiepanska, the Copernicus Group founder.
The group has so far bused more than 1,500 women, children, and seniors from Lviv, Ukraine. They're helping them learn how to speak Polish and get them documented. Mooser says it's been incredible seeing Ukrainians’ resilience.
"They're very brave," she says, "many of them say they don't want to take all the help because they want it to be available for other people as well, so they're such selfless and brave people, it's just unreal."
Peter Wilk, a Copernicus Group member, says they’re even setting up for their specific medical needs, like diabetes. "Our Copernicus Group has joined forces with several medical universities and hospitals in Poland," he says, "we're organizing evacuation of children from Lviv and immediately bringing them to healthcare facilities in Poland, waiting for them to arrive to help with kidney dialysis."
The group is collecting donations through their GoFundMe page to keep their work going. You can find that link here.
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