By Eleanor Wilson
Berwick local Anna, who featured in last week’s edition of the Berwick Star News for her fundraising efforts amid the Ukraine crisis, is continuing her work to raise money for her friends living in the nation’s capital Kyiv.
Anna – who comes from St Petersburg, Russia, was compelled to begin fundraising after her friends Victoriia and Andrey Plugin were forced to seek refuge in a property with an underground cellar amid rising military action from the Kremlin.
Anna said the couple were “exhausted, especially mentally“, recently risking their safety to make a six-hour car journey to collect Andrey’s elderly mother from her home, just 30 kilometres away.
Victoriia and Andrey’s daughter Tina and her three-year old son Max are settling down in Poland, with Max enrolling in the local kindergarten and Tina commencing work in a dog shelter.
Anna is still in talks with local community groups to organise larger fundraising events, but her GoFundMe page, which she was in the process of setting up in last week’s story, is now live online.
It has raised $1250 in its first 48 hours, which Anna plans to send to Victoriia and Andrey later this week.
“From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank everyone who donated, it really shows how kind and thoughtful people here in Australia are,“ she said.
“I’m so proud of the nation that I belong to now.“
If you would like to donate to Anna’s appeal, head to gofund.me/2b264579
