BOONE, N.C. (WNCN) – A North Carolina nonprofit that has worked to provide Ukrainians with emergency supplies and medical attention has airlifted more than two dozen people to safety.
Samaritan’s Purse carried 28 Ukrainians aboard its cargo plane. The organization says the flight carried women and children from Poland to Toronto.
One of those aboard was Natalie who is eight months pregnant. She, and the others on the plane, have family in Canada.
“It has been so hard. We were preparing for our new baby and then we had to put our whole life in a suitcase. We did not know where we would go. We just ran away. Then God gave us mercy when we were found by Samaritan’s Purse. We can have hope again,” Natalie said.
Over the past several months, Samaritan’s Purse said it has carried more than 300 metric tons of relief supplies from Greensboro to Poland. Those supplies are then trucked into Ukraine.
“God bless these people who have been through so much and had to leave everything behind except what they could carry. They are devastated and hurting. We need to continue to pray for the people of Ukraine and do everything we can to help them,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. The nonprofit said Graham has traveled to Ukraine twice.
Samaritan’s Purse has a team of doctors and nurses operating multiple medical facilities across Ukraine.
They reported treating more than 8,700 patients so far. In all, the organization reports helping more than 338,000 people with emergency supplies. Samaritan’s Purse said they are installing community water filtration systems where water sources have been disrupted or contaminated by the conflict.
