KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City area aid group is marking one year of volunteering and bringing supplies to Ukraine.
They say the need hasn't gone down at all, and it only grows as new territory is liberated.
Roxanne Jones is the director of global programs for Global Care Force, an organization that groups medical volunteers together and sends them to parts of the world in need of medical aid.
“Ukraine is our biggest." she said.
Jones watched news reels showing a war unfold on land she called home for five years.
"I remember seeing video of downtown Kiev and Russian tanks closing in, and I remember sitting on the couch and just blurting out, 'No,'" she said. "These areas are devastated. It's a strong word that I'm going to use, but they have literally been raped of everything."
The fighting has left craters in the Ukrainian workforce — one place in particular.
"Seventy to 80% of medical providers in Ukraine either left the country or were on the front lines serving the soldiers," she said.
It's left a huge gap in care that Global Care Force is working to fill. It's a gap that was initially filled at the onset of the war, but has since widened again.
"Organizations go in and meet the need immediately, the disaster, and then they leave. And that's what's happened in Ukraine. Many people, many organizations were immediately there, but they're gone now," Jones said.
The care they provide is helping to repair broken lives, as best they can be.
“We’re treating chronic issues, and we’re seeing repeat customers, if you will, and we’re seeing blood pressures stabilize, blood sugars within normal range," Jones said. "I see this one man still looking at me and going, ‘I didn’t know I could feel so good; I didn’t know there was something to help me.’ It’s like, ‘Here, here’s another 30 days we’ll see you next month.'"
A new GCF group is preparing to head back to Ukraine on Oct. 9.
The group is entirely volunteer-funded, you can find out how to help by clicking this link.
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