Local Ukrainian relief effort
A Saratoga high school graduate with family ties to Ukraine helps those displaced by Russian bombing in that country find temporary accommodation in neighboring Poland.
Daveed Walzer Panadero lives in Barcelona, Spain, with his 2-year-old daughter, Daisy, who is half Ukrainian; she was born in Kharkiv to a surrogate mother.
Daisy stays with her grandmother, Encarna Panadero, a resident of Saratoga, Valencia, Spain, while her father volunteers at the Polish-Ukrainian border and in nearby Krakow, driving families from the border to homes residents who provide shelter. He also hosted families in his Airbnb and bought them plane tickets.
To ramp up its efforts, Panadero has launched a GoFundMe crowdfunding effort, which as of March 16 has raised nearly $232,000 of its $300,000 goal. He said he would use the funds to rent a second car from his partner to transport more families and rent a larger Airbnb for larger families who don’t want to be separated.
Panadero also wanted to buy prepaid Polish SIM cards to distribute to Ukrainian refugees.
“Ukrainian families do not roam on mobiles from home, and many housing services rely on receiving calls or text messages,” he wrote on his GoFundMe page. “It also helps them keep in touch with their sons and husbands who are still fighting in Ukraine.”
To donate to Panadero’s efforts, visit gofundme.com/f/carebridge-daveed-ukraine. For more information and updates, visit “Daveed’s Ukrainian Direct Action” group on Facebook.
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