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Pasco sisters help Ukrainians from two continents
Briona Arradondo reports
DADE CITY, Fla. - The quilting community has come together to help Pasco County quilt fabric store owners raise tens of thousands of dollars for Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Poland.
Rachael Woodard owns Quilted Twins in Dade City with her twin sister Becky Petersen, who lives in Poland doing missionary work with her husband. Woodard said she talks with her sister every day and hears about the Ukrainians fleeing the war.
"She’s right there in Warsaw, and a lot of Ukrainians have come into Poland and vice versa. But mainly her husband had been going into Ukraine about three times a year to teach in small churches, to teach pastors Old Testament," said Woodard.
She said Becky wanted to shift her energy toward helping refugees, so Becky wrote a blog post on their store’s website and Rachael sent out an email blast to their subscribers with a link to donate.
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"We started it on Saturday and by Monday we had already raised $18,000 or something. I realized that we’d hit a nerve because so many people have Ukrainian or Polish relatives here in the United States," said Woodard.
As of Tuesday, Woodard said they raised over $70,440 in online donations in the last 10 days. The store also received mail-in donations. Becky’s nonprofit Solid Rock Foundation uses the money to buy supplies in Poland.
"They gave from their hearts, and it just made me cry. My heart is just tender right now towards what’s going on," said Woodard.
She said Becky then uses the money to go buy diapers, medical kits, food, and much more, getting them to the centers that need them. The quilting community is coming together with the Polish community to deliver what escaping families need.
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"100 percent of what people are giving is going because we’re not even keeping the money fees. Our business is covering those," said Woodard.
They’re also covering the refugees with warmth.
"One of the things Becky is doing is she said she’s quilting as fast as she can and making quilts, so they can provide each one with the bedding. You don’t even think about how important it is at night to get into a bed with a pillow and a blanket and sleep," said Woodard, who said the quilts and pillowcases are part of a care package going to refugees.
Some refugees are staying at her sister’s church in Warsaw, a city that is about three hours away from the Ukrainian border. Woodard said the Poles see a kinship in Ukrainians.
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Woodard received one message from a Polish national that said, "The war is so close and we know from the past the similar situation. It’s not possible to pretend that nothing is happening. We need [to] support each other. Thank you for your support in this difficult situation."
"Even though we can sit here in our comfy homes and go home and watch TV and do whatever we want to, there are people who can’t because of a bully," said Woodard. "He has taken their homes, and these people are running and they’re running to Poland. They need the funds. They need the help to get equipment and supplies."
Woodard said the money raised has also helped buy 10 medical kits so far that first responders can use to save lives in the field. Quilted Twins has a donation link on their website as well as blog posts about the refugee relief efforts.