While Alex defends Ukraine on the front line, his parents are trying to rebuild their life after their home was destroyed by a Russian bomb.

My name is Alex. I am from Ukraine, from the region near Zaporizhzhya, the historic homeland of the Cossacks.

Today I serve as a soldier defending my country.

But before the war, I was just a normal kid.

I played football with friends.

I rode my bike around the village.

And like many kids, I didn’t always enjoy going to school very much.

When I was about 12 years old, something unexpected changed my life.

Music.

I carried an MP3 player everywhere I went. My favorite band was Linkin Park. I probably listened to music for hours every day.

At first, I didn’t understand the lyrics. But I loved the sound of the language.

So I decided to learn it.

I switched my phone to English.

My computer to English.

Everything around me became English.

For me, languages feel like music. If I like the sound of a language, I want to learn it.

My parents supported this strange teenage hobby. Because of them, I was able to go to university and study to become an interpreter. Later, I changed my major to political science, but my love for English has stayed with me ever since.

My parents spent their entire lives working in a small village.

They are simple, hardworking people.

My father is a farmer. He drove tractors, combines, and many other agricultural machines. He loves working with the land.

My mother is a cook, but her real passion is plants and flowers. She built a beautiful garden filled with fruit trees and flowers.

Our home was always full of life.

Friends came over.

Neighbors stopped by.

People were always welcome.

Then the war came.

Like millions of Ukrainians, we had to decide how we could help.

My family helped however we could.

My mother cooked for volunteers and soldiers. One day she even taught international volunteers how to make varenyky.

My father and I built stands for large water barrels and helped set up drinking water stations.

Eventually, I decided there was one more thing I could do.

I joined the Ukrainian army to defend my home, my country.

But during the war, in just a moment, our home was destroyed by a Russian aviation bomb.

The place where my parents built their entire life was gone.

They lost their home.

Their garden.

Their tools.

Their independence.

Everything they had worked for over decades.

Today, my parents are living hundreds of kilometers from their house, in a city they've never lived in, while trying to start their lives all over again.

My dream is simple.

I want to help my parents rebuild their life and buy a home again.

A place where my mother can plant flowers again.

A place where my father can work the land again.

Thank you for helping my family begin again.

— Alex

How your donation helps build a new home for my parents

$25 — helps replace basic household essentials for starting over (tools, kitchen items, daily necessities)

$75 — helps bring life back to my mother’s garden (soil, plants, seeds)

$150 — helps furnish the new home (beds, tables, essential appliances)

$300 — helps build the inside of the home (doors, flooring, insulation)

$750 — helps build the structure of the home (walls, windows, roofing materials)

$1,500+ — directly supports building a safe new home for my parents

Every contribution becomes part of building their new life — step by step.

Campaign Note

This campaign is being organized by Marshall Mayer, an American humanitarian working in Ukraine.

"Alex was a key volunteer with my organization Ukraine Aid International, helping deliver clean drinking water to thousands of families in the Zaporizhzhia region. His family regularly hosted and fed our team at their house. Alex is not just someone I worked with — he is someone I trust, and someone whose family welcomed me into their home.

That home has now been destroyed.

I am launching this campaign on Alex’s behalf so we can help his parents build a new home.

I confirm that all funds raised will go directly toward this purpose."