Local residents raise $19,000 for Ukraine from one social media post

NANTUCKET, Mass. — In just one week local residents sent almost $20,000 to Ukraine all because of one social media post.

The money went to John Love, a pastor in Maryland. His daughter lives in Nantucket.

“When we handed them the money, immediately the tears came they just started flowing,” said Love just hours after his plane landed back in the states after a week in Poland. “Once I got there, I realize just how overwhelming everything was.”

Love planned the trip months ago for a church conference, but his weeklong itinerary was altered after running into refugees.

“You saw on the news, the school that exploded, our house is next to the school,” said a pregnant woman who members of his church documented their encounter with.

They started by handing out toys to kids in the train station. When he sent pictures to his daughter Rebecca she decided to send $500.

“I said I’m just going to share it on my Instagram and see if anybody else wants to help and honestly, I was thinking maybe a few hundred dollars would come in,” said Rebecca Love. “Within 24 hours of sharing it on my Instagram we had over $10,000 that they just sent directly to my Venmo and I counted up the number of people that donated over the past week and it was 214 different people.

In the one week, he was there, they raised $19,000. It was just another example of how a small gesture can literally go a long way.

“It would have been so easy for them to say how we don’t know this guy or how can we trust him but they gave it and we were very good stewards with it,” said John Love. “One moment in particular was we gave it to a family and you could tell the mother was a little suspect and a little shocked by what we gave her. It was maybe a few hundred dollars. And then the next thing, you know, we walked away she chased after us and she just said I can’t thank you enough. Each time we gave the refugees money, it became so much more. The money turned into hope, courage, and faith for them to continue their journey.”

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