When the war came to Kyiv, Vera Petrenko's world contracted to the walls of a bomb shelter.

A school worker by profession, Vera found herself – like so many others in the city – spending hours underground, waiting for the all-clear. The bomb shelter became not just a refuge but a second home, a place where neighbors became companions and ordinary life was suspended indefinitely.

With your support, Vera was able to purchase food and clothing – essentials that had become difficult to access amid the chaos and uncertainty of those early days. Your generosity gave her something practical and something deeper: the reassurance that she was not invisible, and that people far away were thinking of her.

And then, in the middle of all of it, came an unexpected moment of joy. A cat – left behind by a family who had fled Kyiv for Poland – found its way to Vera. She adopted him, and he became her companion through the hardest of days.

Vera wanted to share her gratitude with everyone who helped:

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity to buy what we needed. Your kindness means more than words can say."

In the middle of war, kindness still finds a way. And sometimes, so does a cat.