After just coming back home with his son last week from Poland, Mark Cary already has plans to return to the Ukrainian border at the beginning of May.
“There’s no lack of work, and they’ll be working that country for 10 years, probably longer,” Cary said. “And I plan on going back because these cities are completely destroyed.”
Once Cary and his son Shane arrived in Poland, they collected supplies such as toiletries, food, medical gear, clothing, blankets and more, expecting to deliver the items to the town of Krościenko, Poland, only a few miles from the Ukrainian border. But with the conflict always evolving, their plans also ended up changing as well. They ended up further north in the town of Medyka at the border to deliver the supplies.
“People would just run up the line with shopping carts full of stuff and ask if [they had] anything that needs to go across or wanted to send,” Cary said. “And by the time we got to the end of the line and crossed the border with it, it was huge. We did that several times a day for the two weeks.”
Through their time, the Carys helped different organizations, some world-recognized like World Central Kitchen and others who organized themselves for the first time to provide aid for Ukrainians like Paracrew Norge.
“The thing about the camp that I really liked the most was it wasn’t set up under any organizations. It was just all these people who showed up from everywhere and it was amazing,” Cary said. “And then just for the people, the Ukrainians, we did what we could to comfort them.”
They kept their followers and donators back in the states up to date through their email chain. Over the 14 days, they sent around eight updates telling about their journey and experiences. Cary was also able to call and text his wife, Michele.
“I don’t worry about it but I grew up in a military family,” Michele Cary said. “So to me, it’s his job. It’s his calling. It really wasn’t any different than when he was a border patrol agent and I wouldn’t see him for a few days at a time.”
Despite having worked years in the border patrol, Cary had not been as close and in the action as he was on the Ukrainian border this last trip. And according to him, it was indescribable what he and his son saw there, from the displaced and angry Ukrainian refugees to the hundreds of volunteers from all around the world.
And although Shane will not be joining him on this next trip, Cary believes it really touched his 18-year-old son as well as himself, who saw how hard Shane worked throughout their trip.
“I asked him earlier [today] does it feel weird to be back?,” Cary said. “And he wrote back, “it does. I know exactly what you’re saying. It’s a very unsatisfying feeling to be back here just because we felt like we didn’t want to leave, because there’s just so much to do.”
Overall, Cary raised around $19,000 before his last trip. From those funds, $8,000 went directly to buying suitcases to transport the supplies through the border.
“I’ve just been really grateful for the number of donations that we’ve gotten,” Cary said. “And I can tell everybody that I know what [the donations] went to immediately. Usually they came through Venmo, [then] it came right from the ATM to me to purchasing it.”
For many of the donors, Cary was able to let them know what exact purchase their money went to, such as first-aid kits, clothes, food or other needs. And while there is some leftover that will be used for his upcoming trip. He is accepting more Venmo donations through his email at mc4042@yahoo.com.
There will also be another fundraising concert performed by Kaleidoscope Redrocks at Vino di Sedona on Monday, April 29.
Cary will be leaving again for Warsaw, Poland, on Thursday, May 5, and returning to the U.S. on Friday, May 20.
