Update about Ukraine and more pleas for help

 

From: Jennifer Todd Jones higene1994@gmail.com Update about Ukraine and more pleas for help Dear Friends and Family, Hello again! I first want to thank all those who have donated to my GoFundMe page for my family and friends in Ukraine, I am beyond grateful for your support. Here I am again humbly asking for help for our friends and family in Ukraine once again. The war continues and is not slowing. Resources are becoming more scarce and expenses such as rent continue to rise, especially with fall and winter around the corner. People are losing their jobs as Ukraine is losing funding and are unable to keep most of its employees. And employees they keep, they have cut their salaries despite the extreme inflation and lack of resources and supplies because they just can't pay people. Families are continuing to be separated. The people in Ukraine are also being lied to by the political tension and separatists. They are told if they leave their homes and evacuate from the fighting that they will have free places to stay since they don't have jobs. Yet when they get there they find out this was all a lie and that rent is so high they simply must return home where the fighting is heavy and more dangerous, but at least they do have to pay rent. Fighting over food is increasing as people gather to fight over small scraps, and police are having to be called in to break up these fights. Where my Mama lives in Mariupol there is no more fighting since the separatists have the town. However, she cannot find a job under the new government which is terrible as it is a dictatorship. She is daily struggling and has lost hope. Our friends Tanya and Lisa are in Western Ukraine and cannot get their mom out of Mariupol because they do not allow anyone to leave. Their mom Galina is staying with my mama. Our friend Gene is still separated from his family as he cannot leave being a man. As he can be forced into the military. A lot of these men have children and simply don't want to die as they have never even picked up a pocket knife as there has never been a need for it. These men are also being lied to, some can get medical leave where they do not need to fight, however when they go to leave the country with their families they are held back despite having the medical leave and are still drafted to be medic drivers or to fight. These men do not last long, it is as if they are just free game for the military (their words not mine). My friend Lilia is supporting herself, her parents, her daughter, and her husband and brother on one income. Her husband and brother cannot work as they would be sent to the military, her parents are too elderly and her daughter is only eleven years old. The situation is dire and continues to get worse despite what we hear on the news. We have been blessed by groups like Foursquare Disaster Relief who have been extremely generous in providing food and other supplies to our friends and family in Ukraine, by sending them food and supplies monthly. But other issues arise where money is needed such as rent, car issues, medical care, and other expenses we do not always remember until the last minute. I know everyone has their own family and issues that arise with the inflation in our own country. But if you could please find a way to help in any way that would be extremely helpful. The link to the GoFundMe is here https://www.gofundme.com/f/bpax9-please-donate-to-help-my-family-in-ukraine?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer I am beyond grateful for any help! All our best, Jackie and Andrew