Woman who raised nearly $15,000 for humanitarian relief now volunteering in Ukraine

By Alan Shope

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    OLATHE, Kansas (KMBC) — One Olathe woman who collected nearly $15,000 to help citizens in Ukraine with humanitarian relief has made a trip to the country.

She says the relief is helping.

In the last week, Paige Barrows, a volunteer from Olathe, Kansas, has seen some of the most heavily damaged areas in war-torn Ukraine.

“Russia is still firing rockets constantly at different cities throughout the country,” Barrows said.

With humanitarian relief trips to more than a dozen communities there, she’s seen firsthand the need and what some communities there deal with.

“In the school, there was a mortar shell lodged up in the top of the building,” Barrow said.

The former Ukraine Peace Corps volunteer collected over $14,000 this past year for the country. On her trip, she’s using the money to buy stuff like generators, food and simple everyday supplies that many living there don’t have.

She had heard the stories but said seeing things in person offered a different perspective.

Barrows plans to spend two and a half weeks traveling to different areas with aid, buying more items along the way, like benches for bomb shelters at schools.

She says there are positives.

“The soldiers’ morale is incredible. That has been kind of throwing me off,” Barrows said.

She adds that most of the donations for this trip came from people in the Kansas City area. She says it’s been rewarding to represent the area.

The hardworking volunteer is still collecting donations while she’s in Ukraine. She wants to help as much as she can while she’s there.

If you’d like to donate or learn more about her trip, you can follow her Twitter page @paigeinkansas.

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