She organized relief supplies to take to Krakow, Poland to help refugees, then personally went there to help and find out what the needs were. Since then, she has been to Poland several times, taking relief supplies for the refugee population through the Kocham Debniki Foundation (KDF).

KDF is a part of the Ukrainian refugee community in Krakow. It provides a space for people to fill their basic needs, including food, clothing, medical supplies, English and Polish language lessons, cooking lessons and more, helping over 1,500 families in the neighborhood, mostly women with children and the elderly. The organization basically deals with a homeless refugee crisis of over 1,500 people daily who need all the basics of life and survival.

“Warren has been an integral part of this foundation,” VanOrd said. “The grassroots efforts there and here in Warren have been very strong. The communities are connected at the heart.”

The people of Warren have given to KDF over the last three years, including help from the Ukraine Relief Initiative, HCC, WARRN, Sokolski Family Foundation, Luminescence, Plebeian Helpers, and many other non governmental organizations and individuals.

Photos provided by Piper VanOrd KDS, a Ukrainian relief organization in Poland, distributes many essentials, including cooking oil that is divided and distributed to needy families.

KDF will hold a thank you program, The Power of Community, for the people of Warren on Tuesday, July 1, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Woman’s Club of Warren, 310 Market St., Warren. The program will highlight how the Warren community’s support, generosity and encouragement has helped KDF grow into a vibrant place of healing, resilience and hope for the Ukrainian women and families displaced by the war.

VanOrd shared one experience to highlight that hope. One thing she worked on while she visited the city was making sure that the food pantry was stocked. She asked the staff there what was most needed. The instant reply was that they could use fresh vegetables. Many of the refugees had been surviving on canned food for many months. Another staff member knew of a wholesale market, so VanOrd filled a van with 70 pound bags of cabbages, along with beets, carrots and potatoes, to stock the pantry.

Later that day, she arrived at KDF to find a newly arrived refugee holding a cabbage.

“Moments later, holding her cabbage, tears welled up in her eyes as she gave us such a tired, soft, genuine smile, thanking us over and over, explaining that she hasn’t had a cabbage to cook in over a year.” according to VanOrd. “These are the moments you carry with you. They are so profound. That cabbage symbolized much more than fresh food, but that these refugees were not forgotten, that someone out there cared.”

The program will be set up as a panel discussion with Olga, who runs KDF as executive director, and Lana, who is “the heart of the Community Center” and whom VanOrd described as the “mom of the community”.

Learn how the Warren Community has helped Ukrainian Refugees in Poland at "The Power of Community" program at the Woman's Club of Warren on July 1.

It will be an open conversation to celebrate and thank the Warren community for how it has helped, to look at what needs there are now and the plans for the future.

“The program will be about what has been accomplished, the lives that have been changed, and what comes next, because there is still so much more that can be done when KDF and Warren work together.” according to KDF.