WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – A Watertown woman set out to collect warm socks for the people of Ukraine.
It’s turned into so much more.
The donations Brenda Sipher received now fill a large room in downtown Watertown. Yes, there are plenty of socks. But there are also diapers and baby formula, ready-to-eat food and hygiene products, things Americans can take for granted, but Ukrainians can’t.
“When we talked the first time I told you it’s gonna fizzle, or it’s gonna fly. And it’s absolutely flown,” Sipher said Friday, as she sat in front of a small sea of boxes and bags.
“The generosity of people is amazing,” she said, and pointed out just a few of the contributors to the collection. The diapers? Most of them collected by students at Hermon-DeKalb High School. Other supplies? St. Mary’s School in Canton. Many of the bags to put everything in? Target.
A doctor from Gouverneur brought a truckload of donations down from St. Lawrence County, and Cheryl Evans sorted and organized what was coming in.
“Senior citizens, every day, come in with bags and bags of stuff,” Brenda said.
“I watched a little old man get out of his truck the other day and go into the board office with a full case of canisters of baby formula. That’s such a blessing. “
“I cry a lot. Because I’m just so grateful and so thankful.”
Brenda began two weeks ago with the notion that people in Ukraine could use warm socks. She now says she has collected enough socks, and when all is said and done, will have sent 5,000 pair to Ukraine.
“I’m very happy about that. I’m not sure I’m ever gonna look at socks the same way again though<” she said, and laughed.
Now Brenda is preparing a big shipment to go out next week. It goes first to a Ukrainian church in Syracuse, then to Pennsylvania and is then shipped overseas.
In particular, she’s looking for donations of money, ready-to-eat food, dog and cat food (turns out, Ukraine is a leading source for purebred cats), hygiene products, toothpaste.
She’s also looking for the donation of a smaller storage area, so she can clear out of the space she now has.
“My big push is going to be ending next Thursday so we can have it out of here next Friday, because I’d like to return this room to the gentleman who has kindly let us use it,” she told 7 News Friday.
If you can help, Brenda can (who is a realtor) can be reached through the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors, or through her own listing on the internet.
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