A family with South Florida ties is in Poland bringing aid to Ukrainian refugees. Now, NBC 6 is hearing from them as they travel interacting with people who have left everything behind.
The Ostfeld family shared images via Facetime showing a building filled with supplies that used to be a shopping center but has now become a hub for refugees.
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"The images are very real, and they're not isolated and they are prevalent in all the locations that we've been to," said Scott Ostfeld, who traveled to Poland with his 15-year-old son Trevor.
The family brought diapers and other basic supplies to help Ukrainians who have left everything behind.
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They're visiting refugees center and the border as well.
"We saw people coming from a bus transporting refugees, and all they would bring was a bag or a cart,” said Trevor. “It's sad that their whole life is just put into this little thing that they have to travel with. They're just all in a small room, its dirty, the conditions are not great. But they are very lucky to make it out alive and be able to go to something like this"
At the same time, they're also seeing an overwhelming amount of support and aid.
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"We were at one border location, and it was literally like the UN of tents, from various different countries, various different religious groups, all there to try to help,” Scott said. “I think really the challenge is around the logistics of making sure that the desire to help can be met with the need in an appropriate way."
Scott Ostfeld said one moment put things into perspective.
"The front of it is a daycare for kids, the back of it is for mothers to learn Polish and English. All of the sudden you see that their lives are being so dramatically changed that they need to be reacclimated to even a language to navigate this new world."
A new world - which although might be a neighboring country to Ukraine feels worlds away from the reality Ukrainians knew before Russian forces invaded them nearly one month ago. Ostfeld said this mission is bigger than him and his son.
"This is of an epic scale, but if everyone contributes in a way that they can that’s the way that we can best navigate it,” Scott said. “But even with that, it's not going to be easy, this is a massive scale operation."
