Please help us raise money to help my brother Anatolii and my sister Ohla and their families leave Ukraine and come to the US.
We are needing to raise money to cover the costs to bring 9 family members (3 adults and 6 children) to the United States. They live 70 miles south of Kyiv. We are estimating the traveling expenses to be approximately $25,000 for expenses to travel 400 miles across Ukraine, cross the Romanian border, purchase food and lodging inside Romania, travel by car or airline to Bucharest Romania, from Bucharest fly to Tijuana, Mexico, provide lodging and food as they wait to be processed through immigration in Tijuana, cross the US border into San Diego, and then travel from San Diego to Chicago to live with family.
About us: Andrey and Lyuda Pikalov are US naturalized citizens who came to the US about 20 years ago as young adults. Lyuda is from the Ukraine and has 1 brother in the US.
However, she has a brother (Anatolii) and his wife and family of 6 children in the Ukraine. She also has a sister (Ohla)and her husband and 2 children in the Ukraine. Due to the current war, only Anatolii and his wife and 4 of their children (ages 15, 10, 6, and 1) will be allowed to leave Ukraine because the other 2 children are sons ages 18 and 23.
Also, Ohla will be traveling with her daughter and son ages 9 and 7, but her husband will not be allowed to leave the country with her due to the restrictions on adult males staying to fight.
Currently the US is allowing Ukrainians to enter the US legally on a 1 year work visa, especially if they have family to support them in the US. Lyuda’s brother Anatolii, worked a construction job in the Ukraine, and will have employment in the US working for the same construction company as his brother.
This family will be bringing with them only what they can carry. They believe they have enough money left to get to the border of Romania, but need help with all of the expenses after that.
Please pray for their family for safety as they travel, and the heartbreak of having to leave behind a husband and sons without the guarantee of ever seeing them again.
Please help them financially as they are trying to get to a place of safety for their family.