Minnesota Woman Raised In Ukraine Raises Thousands With Homemade Pins
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minnesota woman is hoping her family will stay safe in Kyiv, and is sharing what she's doing to show all of the people of Ukraine support.
Iryna Wester proudly remembers growing up in Ukraine, which she still calls her home. She's lived in Pequot Lakes for the last 15 years, but the rest of her family -- including her mom, dad, and brother -- are in Kyiv.
"Kyiv is over 1,500 years old, so you can imagine all the old streets and buildings. It's beautiful," Wester said. "It's heartbreaking, it's scary. When it first happened I called my brother, he did not believe me."
Wester's father served in the military and was a police officer. He's now standing by to volunteer.
Wester was just back in Ukraine a month ago. Now she's watching what's happening 5,000 miles away.
"It's unreal. You feel like it's not real," she said.
Wester's family says they do not want to leave.
"They built their life there, they worked hard for what they have, and to just drop and go, it's not fair," Wester said.
Feeling helpless, Wester decided to use her jewelry-making skills to make pins in the Ukrainian colors of blue and yellow. A friend shared Wester's pins on Facebook, and within three days, she had sold $3,000 worth of pins.
"It went crazy. It was awesome. We're a little behind making pins, I'm making them as we speak right now, they're in the oven," Wester said.
Wester said she's grateful strangers want to show their support.
"That Minnesota nice, it's so close to Ukrainian nice," she said.
Wester says she's not quite ready to open up orders of her pins to the greater public.
As for her family in Kyiv, she tells us her mother is able to go to a friend's house at night, where they have a shelter.
If you're wondering how you can help Ukraine, click here. We've gathered a number of organizations who are helping out the country in a number of different ways.