KANSAS CITY, MO — The war between Russia and Ukraine continues, with no end in sight. The New York Times reported last week that in the 18 months of fighting, nearly half a million Ukrainian and Russian troops have been killed or wounded.
In the last year and a half, we've shared with you the voices of refugees here in Kansas City, and the people trying to help them.
One of those voices is Marsha Ramsey, a Kansas City retiree who has traveled to Ukraine twice during the war, and is preparing to go again.
This weekend, she's hosting a massive sale of donated local items, with a very specific goal in mind.
"I was watching television in the middle of the night, and I was just very upset about what I saw. And the next day I got an airline ticket,” Ramsey said. “Call it crazy if you want, but I'll stay crazy then."
Ramsey said she’s sad to see that media updates of the ongoing conflict are few and far between.
"Being from the United States, we don't have any clue what war is like,” Ramsey said. “The needs are endless there."
The sale is August 23-26 at Kanbe’s Markets, near 31st and Terrace in Kansas City, MO, with all kinds of items available.
"We've been storing stuff in warehouses since the first of February, people have been very gracious," Ramsey said. “We have 9,000 square foot of merchandise. We have everything and anything anybody would want."
The hope is to raise $40,000 in the sale, and all of it will go to one purpose.
"The goal is to buy 1000 boots and get them over to Ukraine, hopefully we can get there middle of September," Ramsey said. “I just remember sitting there having a cup of coffee, looking down at these soldiers, and probably 2/10 had combat boots. The rest were in tennis shoes. "If we get halfway there, we have 500 pairs of boots for soldiers who don't have them now."
The sale will also include a grouping of artwork, painted by Ukrainian children. Ramsey worked with the children during one of her trips to the war-torn country, and brought the portraits home with her.
"They express how they feel through art," Ramsey said. “And some of the pictures of what they drew and why, just, gets to you."
"It's made me more compassionate,” Ramsey added. “I'm just a woman from Kansas City, that was worried about Ukrainians, and it changes everything in a person's life that sees or witnesses any of it."
The sale opens at 10am the 24-26th at Kanbe's Markets. There is no fee to attend.
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