Student organizes Ukraine donations

A CSB student is holding a donation drive on campus for humanitarian aid in Ukraine.

The first donation drive will be held until March 4, with plans for more donation opportunities for the two Fridays following spring break. Needed donations include medical supplies, winter gear and hygiene products for Ukrainian citizens, healthcare workers and military personnel. Donation centers are located at the CSB education department, Clemens library, both Writing Centers and in room 204 of Peter Engel Science Center.

Organizers will bring the donations to St. Katherine Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Minneapolis where they will then be shipped to Ukraine.

Elena Harrington, a CSB senior, is the lead organizer of the drive. Harrington’s mom is from Ukraine, and she has family currently in Ukraine. She started the drive as a way to help Ukrainians in need of aid.

“It has been a very difficult time for anyone who has friends or family over there, or even knows our Ukrainian community here in Minnesota,” Harrington said.

Harrington said a text from her mom informed her about the donation drive at St. Katherine, her home church. From there, she reached out to professors on campus to spread the word.

“By the end of the evening, most of the professors knew, and I had people in class asking me, about it as well,” she said. “I was just so stunned that it had spread so quick, and I was just so thankful that the professors worked to put together some donation boxes across both campuses for this.”

The drive is in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine. On Thursday, Feb. 24, Russian troops invaded Ukraine and have since attempted to occupy territory throughout the country. The attacks have displaced many Ukrainian citizens and people residing in Ukraine. In the State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Joe Biden condemned the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and called for support of Ukrainian citizens.

Harrington’s family is among the Ukrainians standing their ground against Russian forces.

“They are very convinced that they will win, and they have so much support for their country that they just want to stay there and fight,” she said.

Stateside, Ukrainians and allies are helping the cause through donation drives and rallies. Harrington said she has been attending rallies at the Minnesota state capitol along with other CSB/SJU students. The rallies are to show support and solidarity for people in Ukraine.

“It has been an overwhelming support in Minnesota that we haven’t seen before,” Harrington said. “Usually at our events it is maybe 100 people and last weekend we had a rally that had over 1,000 people, which was really powerful.”