SARASOTA, Fla. — As the world watches the invasion of Ukraine, the devastation feels very personal for many local businesses and organizations here in the Bay area.
Of a number of businesses and organizations trying to help the people of Ukraine as they deal with the war in their country, some have ties to the country and are angered by the ongoing events.
Some Sarasota business owners said they are channeling their feelings by doing something positive and have started organizing to pitch in and help
Some of the businesses are pulling their resources together to help gather supplies that would go towards relief efforts in Ukraine.
"Foodstuff, toothpaste, toothbrush and a bunch of food for kids and stuff like that," 8-year-old Henry Warren said when explaining what's being sent to Ukraine. His mother owns a florist shop in Sarasota.
Warren, who is in the second grade, recently started learning about the dynamics involved in geo-politics as he followed Russia's war on his mother's birth country.
"One man can cause so much destruction," Henry said of Russia's Vladimir Putin.
In the past week, he has been helping his mother with humanitarian efforts by packaging and sending supplies across the world to Kyiv.
"One of the major things that I see, myself, on the news that stores have been running out of are things like diapers," Victoria Warren said as she read the on a pack of diapers. "This was a really sweet note with love and prayers for you and your family for safety."
Warren owns Victoria Blooms on 5th Street in downtown Sarasota. Warren was born in Kyiv and moved to the United States when she was not yet a teenager. She still has family in Ukraine and is concerned for their safety. She has turned her flower shop into a drop-off center to collect and package supplies that would be shipped off daily to Ukraine.
"Things like socks, adult socks, kids socks, toothbrushes, all these things that you don't think about," Victoria Warren said. "Even things like hairbrushes, to make them feel a little human."
"It just feels like–you know–your home, your birthplace is being destroyed and you feel helpless and that's how I really felt when all this broke out," she said.
Warren is planning a fundraiser scheduled for March 19 that would involve different food trucks and performances.
At Kiev Deli on Cattlemen Road in Sarasota, owner Olga Klothakis is also planning a fundraiser. Her daughter is still stuck in Ukraine.
"I have so many people coming to the store, so many people," Klothakis said.
"I have hundreds and hundreds of calls and they are asking how they can help. One woman was calling to offer her apartment for the refugees."
Ukrainian communities across the country have been asked to help fund the purchase of supplies for Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines.
"Helmets that are heavy-duty, class five chest protectors or flak jackets to keep them away out of harm's way as much as possible," Ukrainian-American veteran Ihor Hron said.
In St. Petersburg, members of the congregation at Epiphany of Our Lord Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church are collecting donations to help Ukrainian refugees in Poland and at Ukraine's borders. People can drop off donations at the church hall, located at 434 90th Avenue North in St. Petersburg, Florida, from 10 a.m. to 1 op.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays until March 25.
From the elderly who've experienced and lived through a war, to the young and eager, untainted by such reality, different people of all walks of life are coming together to put all hands on deck and help ease the burdens of war.
"One man could save the whole world and make it a better place," 8-year-old Henry said.