THOMASTON, Ga. — Editors note: The mother's full name and photos of the family will not be disclosed to protect their safety. The video in the player above is from our first reporting on the fundraiser.
Students from Thomaston-Upson Primary School ended their fundraiser for Ukraine on Friday, but one local business owner still wanted to donate. It ended up going directly to a Ukrainian mother who's trying to move to a safer area in a few days.
First-grade teacher Mrs. Stubbs said she was getting an oil change at Mitch's Automotive Towing and Salvage in Barnesville when owner Mitch Buice said he wanted to contribute to the fundraiser.
"I told her I wanted to participate, and continue to make donations to the families there," Buice said.
Unfortunately, the donation drive was finished, and they'd sent off all their money, but Buice said he still wanted to give her the money.
Stubbs said she saw a post on social media from the initial article about their fundraiser from a woman who said she had family in Ukraine.
That's when Stubbs got to speak to Pam Romano, who fostered a Ukrainian girl, who's now in her twenties, back in 2010.
Romano agreed to share photos of her foster daughter, Katia's family, to give to Stubbs' class.
"Her (Romano) intention was to give me some pictures that were appropriate for my first graders so that they could get like a real-life account of what's going on," Stubbs said.
This jogged Stubbs' memory about the donation from Buice, and she asked Romano if her foster daughter could use the money.
They were able to get the money over to Katia on Wednesday.
>> The photos below are text messages from Romano when she told Katia about the donation.
"It's exciting to me to think that a community in Georgia that's never met her, you know, has now in some way blessed her," Romano said
Romano said she never stops worrying about Katia and that the donation meant so much to her and her family. Katia hopes they won't have to leave their country, Romano said, and wouldn't want to leave Ukraine– until they all can. They are just waiting on Katia's husband to be in the clear.
Buice's shop added they would keep a donation jar of their own and give money to Stubbs to support those in need in Ukraine.
"And I'm going to reach out to local business and try to get the donations, get, you know... families involved," Buice said. "There's a lot of kids. It's a terrible situation."
Katia, her husband and two kids, six and two years old, live in Kherson, Ukraine, an area that the war has heavily hit. The money will help them find another place, closer to Poland, as they need to move in a few days.