Local Ukrainian-American heads to homeland to help refugees besieged by war
PHILADELPHIA - A Ukrainian-American woman from Philadelphia boarded a plane to Romania on Friday night with the goal of reaching Ukraine to help evacuate women and children besieged by war.
Svetlana Tikhonov is the founder of Quadrat Academy, a Montessori middle and high school in Northern Liberties. Her school has been collecting supplies for Ukrainian refugees.
Tikhonov is personally collecting monetary donations through givebutter.com with a plan to use the funding on the front lines.
"We’re bringing the money there, and I’m going to hopefully provide supplies: medical aid, housing, anything we need to do not he ground," Tikhonov said.
Tikhonov grew up in Kiev and left Ukraine with her family when she was 14. She traveled through five countries before settling in the United States.
On Friday, she bid goodbye to her son and 5-year-old daughter who made cards to distribute to children in Ukraine.
"I'll miss her terribly," Tikhonov said. "But this is important, I can not just sit and watch while people suffer, especially in my hometown."
Her mission is to help evacuate thousands of women and children stranded by constant bombardment from Putin's Russian army.
Tikhonov said she's not worried about her own safety, she’s more concerned about rallying support for her beloved Ukrainian.
"Open your heart, open your mind, they need help they need help now," Tikhonov said.
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