Hi!

This is my dear friend and running buddy Nina, who's doing the LA Marathon this Sunday, March 20th & dedicating each of its 26 miles to the millions of Ukrainians brutally uprooted by Putin's horrific war. Most of them are mothers with children like us, crossing the border into Poland, with just a bag of belongings. That's where my friend Zosia, a mother in Warsaw, fits in. The 1st weekend of the war, she went to the border and picked up 60 refugees, including international students, who had no other resources. She found them all places to stay, fed them, arranged transport and took care of their immediate needs. And she's repeated this cycle daily, either shlepping to train stations and borders or coordinating an army of volunteers just like her.

Most urgently, Zosia is trying to buy a hospital bed for a family of four with a child suffering from cerebral palsy. She found them housing and even paid their first month's rent, but she needs help moving forward. Their monthly cost alone -- including hospital bed -- is $1,800. Your donations will help pay for their vital needs and for food, shelter, clothes, first aid, transport, school supplies and other necessities for so many others.

If 70 people pledge $1/mile that's $1,800 or 1 month's rent for them

35 people at $2/mile = $1,800

or

if 10 people pledge $1/mile that covers food for 4 people for a week

This weekend will mark the 3rd weekend of the war. It's also my birthday eve...

Let's cheer on Nina Sunday, help Zosia on the front lines of this humanitarian crisis, and say F U Putin by showing that humanity beats inhumanity any day of the week.

So please open your hearts and wallets and help me celebrate my birthday early!

Go Team Nina! Go Team Zosia!

Thank you all so much!

Marisa

A proud granddaughter of a refugee from Odessa