SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif — An Escondido father and business owner is back from Eastern Europe after spending nearly two weeks there delivering supplies and transporting refugees.
Oleksander Shumishyn was born in Ukraine, but is now an American citizen.
His 9-year-old young daughter and extended family still live in Ukraine.
"As it escalated further and further and closer to where my family is at, I knew I had to go there," said Shumishyn.
Shortly after the war in Ukraine started, Shumishyn dropped everything, leaving his home in San Diego for Moldova, a country on the western border of Ukraine.
"The reaction time, the time it takes for me to get to a location where I can help them is too long so I knew I needed to be there in case things do escalate further so I can react immediately," said Shumishyn.
Shumishyn spent nearly two weeks in Moldova, where he and a friend rented vans to transport refugees and deliver medical supplies to camps and hospitals in and around Ukraine.
"We would spend our nights in the capital of Moldova because that's where all the supplies are at, and then from there we would take whatever we buy, take them to the camp where the refugees were at and from there we would take the refugees through volunteers to wherever they needed to get to go. It was below freezing temperatures, so people would be standing outside in freezing temperatures just waiting for someone to give them a ride waiting for someone to give them a place to spend the night," said Shumishyn.
Shumishyn returned to the United States after humanitarian aid was cut off from crossing the border.
He managed to get his mother in law out safely.
But, with his 9-year-old daughter and other family still in Ukraine, he plans to return in the coming weeks.
Before doing so, Shumishyn is raising money through a GoFundMe page for additional supplies and anything else refugees need.
He says purchasing items there as opposed to shipping them is cheaper, and more efficient, saying every little bit helps.
"My hope is to do anything and everything I can to make this go by a little easier, a little safer to help somebody that needs help," said Shumishyn.
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