Mary K. Leonard
As millions of residents flee the fighting in Ukraine, one Alexandria woman is flying to Poland to help.
Alexandria resident Mary Leonard, who is of Polish descent, is heading to eastern Poland this week to assist refugees leaving the war-torn country. Leonard will initially be staying with a U.S. Embassy connection facilitated through Twitter.
Leonard, who runs Love In ALX, has connected with a videographer in Warsaw, Poland and will document her journey and those of at least two Ukrainian families she is raising money to house. Her ultimate destination is Przemysl, Poland, just nine miles from the Ukrainian border and the first train station stop west of the Ukraine border.
Leonard has raised enough money for an Airbnb in Warsaw for a few months to house one family, and is raising funds to house additional families.
Those who wish to donate can do so through LoveinALX.com. (Because the funds are going directly to families, they are not tax deductible.) Leonard has also connected with @MeidasTouch and with Sean Penn's documentary and relief teams.
"It’s not like I can take care of everybody, but I want people to know that the United States is in there and helping because I know a lot of people feel like right now the United States hasn’t done enough," Leonard said.
Corporate sponsorships are available (contact info is available through Love in ALX). ALX Community and The Old Town Shop have both made significant donations.
In addition, Leonard was contacted through Twitter by a family near St. Louis whose six-year-old son, William, wanted to help. The family collected letters of support from William's classmates, coloring books, crayons and comic books for Leonard to bring with her to Poland.
Despite a series of health setbacks in the past two years, including three surgeries and a stay in the ICU, Leonard said her doctors have cleared her to travel. “I couldn’t just stand by," she said.
After returning later this month, Leonard plans to host a video viewing and discussion starting at 6 p.m. March 25 showing videos produced during her journey and talking about the situation refugees are facing in Poland. The event will be hosted at Above ALX, part of ALX Community, 277 S. Washington St.
