One year into the Russian war on Ukraine, Alona Matchenko isn’t shy about correcting people about calling it an anniversary.

“The Ukrainian people are asking that it not be called an anniversary, because anniversary is associated with something festive, or happy,” Matchenko said. “We call it ‘a year mark’ or ‘365 days of suffering,’ because we have been fighting for freedom for 12 months in a row.”

Matchenko isn’t the only person who bristles at the anniversary description. Since she started the process of founding Toledo Helps Ukraine on Feb. 24, last year, the day Russia invaded Ukraine, a network of non-profits have emerged to fight the aggression and ease the suffering.

Those organizations have wide and varied origins, and some have disappeared. Locally, in addition to Toledo Helps Ukraine, those organizations include the Rotary District 6600 and the associated Common Man for Ukraine, the National Sheriff’s Association.

During that year, Matchenko has been back to her home country, shepherding shipping containers of humanitarian aid, raising money and goods from 10 sites in Northwest Ohio and helping refugees with relocation to safety in Ukraine and the United States.

Like many people working with humanitarian aid organizations she doesn’t get a lot of sleep. There’s daily news of the fighting and stories from families, journalists and fellow aid workers about the terror, death and destruction.

“After coming back from Ukraine I could not help but notice being a completely changed individual, beyond the fact that I’d apparently gained PTSD of seeing those ruined lives and the internally displaced people. It exhausts me. Even though I wanted to help, I felt very helpless, because shipping containers is a significant effort that I could not do on my own, without the help of fundings,” Matchenko said. “I realized I had to focus on my specialty … and we decided to focus on the Uniting for Ukraine (part of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) government initiative, in relocating Ukrainian citizens to the U.S. for temporary safety.

“I would say the tourniquets are still a form of currency in Ukraine. It’s bad,” Matchenko said.

She is a law school student at the University of Toledo, graduating in May.

While not running a support group, Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn has been supportive of several efforts to help Ukraine.

“Being first generation Ukrainian, I’m certainly very supportive of Ukraine in the war effort. … My father immigrated here in 1948 and my mother’s parents immigrated here in the 1920s. I spoke Ukrainian before I spoke English and I’m very active in the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Rossford, St. Michael’s,” Wasylyshyn said.

Expired Special Response Team ballistic vests have been sent to Ukraine, by way of the public safety department of the Ohio governor’s office, he said.

“In our country they put an expiration date on them. We replace them every five years, but they are certainly good for many, many more years after that. The companies just don’t warranty them after that date,” Wasylyshyn said.

He recommended Toledo Helps Ukraine.

‘Alona is a very impressive young woman. She’s been helping provide supplies for Ukraine and, more importantly, helping find homes for refugees,” he said. “She’s a full-time student, a mother and wife. She’s very impressive.”

There is also a network of individuals working with Rotary that Wasylyshyn has helped connect, which works specifically on medical supplies.

A group called Free Ukraine has been shipping medical supplies, working very closely with local Rotary District 6600 and a New Hampshire humanitarian group called Common Man for Ukraine.

Common Man for Ukraine has been part of the Rotary delivery wing for donations to Ukraine. The founders, Alex Ray, Susan Mathison, Lisa Mure and Steven Rand, delivered a shipment last weekend. This was their fourth trip, with supplies going to orphanages, safe houses and senior centers. Ray and Rand are the Rotarians.

Over the past few days, they delivered to 14 orphanages and safe-houses. Because of the delivery, they will have food for over a month and a half, Ray and Mathison said.

They explained that a lot of the displaced children were sent to safe houses in the western part of the country, for their protection, because Russia’s troops are targeting children for kidnapping.

Toledo Helps Ukraine has a third shipping container being readied to go.

The fundraisers continue for Toledo Helps Ukraine and the other organizations. The websites are https://commonmanforukraine.org/ for Common Man for Ukraine and Toledo Helps Ukraine at toledohelpsukraine.org, and local Rotary District 6600 at https://rotarydistrict6600.org/what-is-rotary/.