Seventy-eight-year-old Valentina Chelpan is alone in the world. She was widowed when her husband died of a heart attack. Her son was one of the first responders to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and died as a result. Her daughter too died of cancer, leaving Chelpan on her own in a ruined house in Mariupol, Ukraine.

Through her involvement with the “Uzniki fashizma” (prisoners of fascism) NGO, an organization for former prisoners during World War II, Chelpan came to the attention of IRD, which was looking for those needing help during the winter. IRD, together with the Church of Latter Day Saints, had brought a shipment of warm clothing, quilts, and basic hygiene kits to Ukraine. Chelpan’s new quilt is a bright spot in her otherwise dull, grey home. She was very excited to receive it and the other supplies. With tears in her eyes, she said “American people saved us during the Second World War and now they save us again.”

Since 1998, IRD has shipped $300 million worth of donated goods around the world, including over $9 million to Ukraine.