Toronto volunteers collect, send tactical supplies to Ukraine amid war with Russia

Julia Zaritsky has spent most of her days over the last two weeks figuring out how to buy and ship tactical supplies to Ukrainians fighting the Russian invasion of their country.

TORONTO — Julia Zaritsky has spent most of her days over the last two weeks figuring out how to buy and ship tactical supplies to Ukrainians fighting the Russian invasion of their country.

It’s a complete change of pace for the Toronto mother, who runs a child-care business in the city after immigrating to Canada from Ukraine five years ago. Instead of progressing with plans to open a second location, she’s pivoted to helping the war effort in Ukraine.

“It’s like a woman’s heart, right, it’s like a mother. You want to care for people. You see the world and your country as a big family,” she said in a recent interview.

Zaritsky, 27, was about to board a flight from Toronto to Ukraine last month when Russia’s invasion began.

“My brother called me, like in 15 minutes, and he said, ‘Please don’t go here. We woke up from the bombs around us’ … Obviously the flight got cancelled,” she says.

Zaritsky founded a non-profit organization that’s collecting supplies to send to Ukraine. Working with a group of about 20 volunteers, the organization has already collected supplies that include first aid kits and thermal clothing to ship over to partner organizations.

The group is also collecting certain models of bulletproof vests, helmets and night-vision goggles and is in the process of applying for a special export permit to get those items to Ukraine.

“We are in critical need of the supplies,” she says.