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The purpose of this fundraiser is to pay for the air travel and living expenses of the Volkov family until their allowed to legally work in the United States.
My family will be providing them with an apartment and transportation. We are just raising funds to help bring them here and have some money to get them settled until their legally allowed to work in the United States.
Their Story:
We are the Volkovs. We, Dima and Katya, are the parents of Ivan (15) and Timofey (8).
Our story began in our home in Donetsk back in 2014, when the first war with the Russians began. We had a family-run company that we built from the ground up producing furniture and commercial equipment. We finished building our home not long before the war began. We didn’t think we'd be affected so we decided to stay as long as possible in our new homes. Unfortunately, the separatists, with the support of the military, took over the city through robberies and murders.
The Russians would destroy our cities, our lives, and our church. When it was no longer possible to be in the city, my family and I left in the hope that everything would end soon. We left with hopes of someday returning to our home. Unfortunately, the area where we lived in Donetsk was occupied by Russians. Our workshop and business were looted and destroyed. There is nothing left of our home in Donetsk.
We moved to Kyiv where we have lived for over 8 years. We have since started a new business, opened a new workshop where we build furniture and commercial equipment, and bought apartments to rent on Airbnb. Our kids adapted and learned to love their new home in Kyiv.
We miss Donetsk but thought everything was going to be fine for us in our Country's capital. But no, On February 24, 2022, I woke up at 4 in the morning to the sound of explosions in our city.
I thought I was dreaming. I thought that I was dreaming of the destruction of Donetsk. We woke to a nightmare as Russia's war had found our family again in Kyiv. This time we wouldn't be lucky enough to simply move to another Ukrainian city. Our business was destroyed, our properties were inaccessible, and we were left with nothing as we looked to escape the missiles raining down on our city.
We collected whatever we could carry and got in our car to evacuate the city. We drove the first 125 miles in the first 11 hours of our evacuation to Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. An 8-hour journey took us three days.
When we arrived there was an 11 pm curfew in place. To avoid being arrested for breaking curfew, we were forced to take shelter for the night in the cellar of a kind Samaritan. Throughout that terrible night, sirens wailed, warning of missile bombardments.
We found an abandoned, church apartment to take shelter in, but the house didn't have a basement, so we were constantly exposed and in danger of getting hit by a rocket. We made a difficult decision to leave our country and flee to Romania with my wife and children.
When I brought my family on the train there was no room. So many refugees were trying to escape that they only permitted women and children. It was the right thing to do, but our hearts broke as we had to say goodbye to Dima.
Watching my husband and father of my children standing on the platform in a war-torn country as he sacrificed himself to help keep us safe, broke my heart.
In that moment we didn’t know if we would ever see Dima again. Visions of raising my children without a father being widowed by Russians war were devastating.
I didn't even know where we were going or where we would stay. I could only think of who we left behind. Romania was overwhelmed with refugees and the price gouging on accommodations was enormous and rampant. We eventually took refuge in an apartment in Spain.
While we were safe in Spain, Dima was back in Ukraine living in a basement. For months, he would lay awake at night unable to sleep because of the constant rocket fire bombarding the city. During the day, he used the truck from his business (that we fled in) to shuttle civilians and supplies out of the war zone to the safety of Poland.
Finally, we found a small window of opportunity for Dima to escape and come join us in Spain. If things didn't work out as Dima tried to rejoin us in Spain, he would have been sent to the front lines where he would have certainly perished.
Hoping against hope, Dima evacuated Ukraine and was blessed to make it through the border. The sleepless nights of hoping and praying he would pick up his phone the next time I called, were over. We were finally united as a family.
We've been given permission to flee to the United States where we will be staying in an apartment provided by the Noren family.
We have been the recipient of many blessings during the very difficult time and are deeply grateful for any additional support.
Thank you for helping save our family.
Our story began in our home in Donetsk back in 2014, when the first war with the Russians began. We had a family-run company that we built from the ground up producing furniture and commercial equipment. We finished building our home not long before the war began. We didn’t think we'd be affected so we decided to stay as long as possible in our new homes. Unfortunately, the separatists, with the support of the military, took over the city through robberies and murders.
The Russians would destroy our cities, our lives, and our church. When it was no longer possible to be in the city, my family and I left in the hope that everything would end soon. We left with hopes of someday returning to our home. Unfortunately, the area where we lived in Donetsk was occupied by Russians. Our workshop and business were looted and destroyed. There is nothing left of our home in Donetsk.
We moved to Kyiv where we have lived for over 8 years. We have since started a new business, opened a new workshop where we build furniture and commercial equipment, and bought apartments to rent on Airbnb. Our kids adapted and learned to love their new home in Kyiv.
We miss Donetsk but thought everything was going to be fine for us in our Country's capital. But no, On February 24, 2022, I woke up at 4 in the morning to the sound of explosions in our city.
I thought I was dreaming. I thought that I was dreaming of the destruction of Donetsk. We woke to a nightmare as Russia's war had found our family again in Kyiv. This time we wouldn't be lucky enough to simply move to another Ukrainian city. Our business was destroyed, our properties were inaccessible, and we were left with nothing as we looked to escape the missiles raining down on our city.
We collected whatever we could carry and got in our car to evacuate the city. We drove the first 125 miles in the first 11 hours of our evacuation to Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. An 8-hour journey took us three days.
When we arrived there was an 11 pm curfew in place. To avoid being arrested for breaking curfew, we were forced to take shelter for the night in the cellar of a kind Samaritan. Throughout that terrible night, sirens wailed, warning of missile bombardments.
We found an abandoned, church apartment to take shelter in, but the house didn't have a basement, so we were constantly exposed and in danger of getting hit by a rocket. We made a difficult decision to leave our country and flee to Romania with my wife and children.
When I brought my family on the train there was no room. So many refugees were trying to escape that they only permitted women and children. It was the right thing to do, but our hearts broke as we had to say goodbye to Dima.
Watching my husband and father of my children standing on the platform in a war-torn country as he sacrificed himself to help keep us safe, broke my heart.
In that moment we didn’t know if we would ever see Dima again. Visions of raising my children without a father being widowed by Russians war were devastating.
I didn't even know where we were going or where we would stay. I could only think of who we left behind. Romania was overwhelmed with refugees and the price gouging on accommodations was enormous and rampant. We eventually took refuge in an apartment in Spain.
While we were safe in Spain, Dima was back in Ukraine living in a basement. For months, he would lay awake at night unable to sleep because of the constant rocket fire bombarding the city. During the day, he used the truck from his business (that we fled in) to shuttle civilians and supplies out of the war zone to the safety of Poland.
Finally, we found a small window of opportunity for Dima to escape and come join us in Spain. If things didn't work out as Dima tried to rejoin us in Spain, he would have been sent to the front lines where he would have certainly perished.
Hoping against hope, Dima evacuated Ukraine and was blessed to make it through the border. The sleepless nights of hoping and praying he would pick up his phone the next time I called, were over. We were finally united as a family.
We've been given permission to flee to the United States where we will be staying in an apartment provided by the Noren family.
We have been the recipient of many blessings during the very difficult time and are deeply grateful for any additional support.
Thank you for helping save our family.
**100% of the donations will go to the Volkov family**