It is one thing to hear the stories from Ukraine, and see the images on TV.
But Cheryl Kennedy will tell you it’s entirely different to witness the pain and suffering in person.
"They just kept asking, 'Why won't Americans help us? Why won't they close our skies?'" she said.
Kennedy, who is the Community Care Pastor at The Bridge Church in Cleveland, described speaking to a group of Ukrainian refugees in Lublin, Poland.
Kennedy is part of a group of volunteers formed out of the church and community members called The Bridge Collective International. For the past month, they have been fundraising to purchase supplies for Ukrainian refugees in Poland and even coordinating getting some of those supplies delivered to those still trapped in Ukraine.
Kennedy said she was speaking to a group of women who had fled Ukraine and were staying in apartments rented to them by a church group in Lublin. The woman she spoke to had a 2-month-old baby in her arms, and her husband had stayed behind in Ukraine to keep fighting.
"The only thing that I could say was I can't speak for the American government. I don't know all the ins and outs," said Kennedy. "But I do know one thing: God moves the heart to people to leave our comfortable lifestyles, to gather at what we could to come to you to say that you're seen and that you're heard and that you're loved."
Kennedy’s group consists of herself, some members of The Bridge Church, and community volunteers. They have raised funds through donations on the church’s website, then flown to Poland to purchase and distribute the supplies.
Some of their donations so far include four tons of food worth $8,000, $1,100 in tactical supplies, and $1,400 in humanitarian aid for Ukrainians still taking cover in bomb shelters.
They have also raised several thousand dollars to help a pastor in Lublin, one of their contacts, rent a van to bring refugees over the border.
Kennedy stayed in Poland for a week and then returned to the United States. But Lauren Filbeck, one of Kennedy’s fellow church members and a driving force behind the effort, decided to stay longer.
She is still in Lublin as of this report.
"I am a person of faith. And this has been a calling place on my heart," said Filbeck. "And I knew I've had enough of like travel experience and different things internationally to know that I would want more time, more than a week, more than 10 days...then considering this type of work, I knew that it would need to be a longer duration."
Like Kennedy, Filbeck said it has been hard to see the plight of the refugees they have seen in Poland. But at the same time, she has been overwhelmed by the supportive response. Both from donors in the states and those in Poland willing to help.
"You cannot walk a block without seeing yellow and blue, the colors of the Ukrainian flag," said Filbeck, referring to the scene in Poland. "You'll see something painted on the side of a wall, you'll see a billboard that just says, you know, in solidarity with Ukraine, you see people's phone cases...it is literally everywhere."
Filbeck said the group has several contacts in Poland and Ukraine that help them distribute aid. While they have not crossed over into Ukraine themselves, their group has a point of contact who can take supplies to those in bomb shelters.
"They actually have to take the food that comes on pallets, and they bag it up into smaller bags. And then when they're close to the area that the bomb shelters [are], they actually get out and have to run throughout the bag to almost where the entrance is, while there are Russian soldiers firing at them," said Kennedy. "It's just one of those things where it's like they're trying everything that they can to get the food in."
Throughout this effort, the group has met some incredible volunteers from all over the world providing aid. Some of these volunteers include a group of twenty 20-year-olds from a church in Poland who started bringing refugees over when the war broke out, and have since been renovating an old building for a shelter.
Both Kennedy and Filbeck want people to hear their stories and consider donating.
"I've heard so many people say, 'I wish I could do something,'" said Filbeck. "While not everyone can physically come over, you don't have to- I am here, we are here. And we are here to serve those people back home who want to help and be that conduit to help that refugee mother and her children or the Territorial Defense Force."
Filbeck said she will stay in Lublin until she feels the work is done. Community members can support their efforts by going online to thebridgeonline.cc and clicking the gift tab. Kennedy said to include a note that the donation is for Ukraine.
All proceeds go directly toward this effort.
