Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah woman is sending relief to volunteers in Moldova who are helping Ukrainian refugee families. She has a personal tie to the country and a good reason for helping.
Elena Barlow has received dozens of pictures and videos from the border town of Palanca in Moldova where thousands of Ukrainian families have arrived toting children, animals, and suitcases.
"There's a woman with newborn child that they picked up," she said pointing to a photo that shows a woman holding a baby swaddled in a blanket and surrounded by four young children.
Barlow is from Moldova and knows the area well.
She explained that the refugees walk hours and hours after losing everything in their hometowns and then have to wait 32 hours in some cases to get through customs and cross over into Moldova.
Barlow pulled up a selfie taken by a woman in the front seat of a car. Behind her, a family is piled in the backseat.
"They have four little kids that arrived," she explained. Most that come are women and children as the men stay home to fight in the war.
She knows the families have been welcomed with open arms.
Barlow showed another photo with a crowd of people huddled together.
"These are 30 volunteers on their way to pick up refugees," she said. Those 30 drivers picked up 140 refugees in one day alone, Barlow said, making the two-and-a-half-hour drive from Palanca to Moldova's capital of Chișinău.
From there, Moldovan volunteers helped coordinate places to stay.
"For example, there's one family, they live in a two-bedroom apartment, it's a 500 square feet apartment," Barlow said. "They live there and they accepted two families with kids, plus they accepted nine pets."
All the gas driving back-and-forth, the money for groceries, and power bills get expensive Barlow said.
That's why she's been sending donations through her charity Stella's House.
She founded the organization in 2008 and said she sends 40-foot shipping containers full of supplies to the country.
It was her way of paying it forward after finding success following her own hard times growing up.
"I was born in Russia and my mom and I, we moved to Moldova. And she died unexpectedly and then I end up in the orphanage in Moldova where I spent eight years," Barlow shared. "And at the age of 16, I was adopted by an American family from Arizona."
Stella's House has sent 10 shipping containers to Moldova, Barlow said, filled with $160,000 each worth of humanitarian aid and goods.
When the war broke out in Ukraine and she realized how many people were fleeing to Moldova, Barlow pivoted to supplying locals with what they needed to take in families.
"My goal is to help the volunteers who are running out of their own savings, who need money for gas to continue to drive to the border, pick up refugees," she explained. "And also, those families that are hosting (Ukrainian) families, because they need help."
Barlow said she keeps track of every cent through receipts and pictures sent to her by volunteers.
She just received pictures Tuesday of the two families who arrived Monday night and will share the tiny two-bedroom apartment with a Moldovan family.
"This is the second family that arrived to their apartment," she pointed to a picture on her phone of a mother and young boy sitting on a bed.
She swiped to show a grandmother lying on a couch made into a bed and then to a boy sitting at a small desk.
"They're doing art with them, homework," Barlow said, explaining how the Moldovan family is trying to help make the kids feel at home.
And she's making sure they have what they need to help those families who lost everything.
A fundraiser for Stella's House is planned for Monday, March 21 at The Cathedral of the Madeleine at 7 pm.
Called Voices for Ukraine, the concert will feature performances by the Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, Ukrainian Musicians, Alex Boyé, and Madeleine Choir School.
Artists will sell their work with proceeds going to Stella's House*. Anyone is welcome to attend.
*Disclaimer: KSL.com has not verified the accuracy of the information provided with respect to the account nor does KSL.com assure that the monies deposited will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit or donation you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
