A Bay Area couple talks about their relief paintings with Ukrainian refugees after traveling to Poland to provide essential items for women and children. They were there once and plan to return.
Marin County – A Couple from the Bay Area share their story about their paintings that help Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
Jola Marra, a genuine real estate agent from Marin County, and her husband Santiago Marra, who works in the tech industry, said their two weeks were a reminder that the war in Ukraine was not over.
They estimated that they would assist two hundred families and dozens of young people in an orphanage.
Novato’s partner shared images illustrating what they did in late May.
Jola said she originally intended to make a stopover in her circle of relatives in her home country of Poland, but soon focused on helping Ukrainian refugees.
He collected budget donations from clients, colleagues and neighbors.
“In 3 weeks, we got $40,000. It was quite amazing. Our hands were complete when we arrived in Poland,” Jola said.
The couple showed videos of the other people they helped, and added one with young people from a Ukrainian orphanage singing, Jola said.
The young men were evacuated from a war zone and are now in an event center in Poland that used to host weddings and other receptions.
The Marras gave the young people cookies, chocolates and basic items such as T-shirts and shoes. They also bought them a washing machine.
“It’s great. It is unhappy because Polish families need to adopt or take them in, but because of the war, everything is suspended,” Jola said.
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The couple said they bought gift cards for students at 8 schools.
“Young people were jumping for joy. That moment was special,” Jola said.
The couple said their relief paintings referred to reuniting the refugees they were helping in person. This is a feat that was made possible thanks to the help of a non-profit organization in Poland.
“How do you relate to the other people you help?”said Santiago. ” It’s about helping as many other people as possible, but also understanding what other people were going through. “
The couple said they had enough cash to rent apartments for six families, who could not return to Ukraine as temporarily as they had hoped. In many cases, women were separated from their husbands, young people from their fathers. I can’t believe I have to go through this,” Jola said. The Marra said their purpose was to raise awareness of the plight of refugees.
“I hope I can get more from the other people here and there,” Jola said.
The Marras said they were already making plans to return from vacation to Poland to help Ukrainian refugees in their stay.
Now they’re raising the budget in hopes of going there in the holiday season and next March.
They introduced a GoFundMe page, click here for more information.
Amber Lee is a journalist at KTVU. Email Amber at Amber. Lee@Fox. com or text/leave a message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU, Instagram @AmberKTVU or Twitter@AmberKTVU
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