Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify specific locations and the date the Vitovsky family began fundraising.

When Cypress resident Melanie Vitovsky first heard of the crisis in Ukraine, she and her sons decided to make and sell crafts to raise money to support Adel Kuchyk, one of the family's former exchange students. Kuchyk is from Melitopol, Ukraine, and has escaped the violence there while her parents remain in different areas in Ukraine.

Kuchyk, her younger brother and her fiance made it to Lithuania after fleeing Ukraine approximately two weeks ago and were provided with a studio apartment for the time being.

“Some people were very kind to provide us this one-room apartment for free,” Kuchyk said. “We don’t really know for how long but for now it’s free for us. So we are very, very grateful to have a place we can call home for now.”

The kindness of their Lithuanian hosts has made a great difference for the trio since they left with only the clothes on their backs. After arriving in Lithuania, Kuchyk came to find their currency, hryvnias, has little value outside of Ukraine. The reduced value of the hryvnia has posed challenges as Vitovsky tried to send aid to Kuchyk and ensure the funds came in the form of euros or U.S. dollars.

Having found an effective way to wire money to Kuchyk, Vitovsky and her family continue to fundraise to support Kuchyk as well as her family and friends. Their current goal is to get Kuchyk and her fiance’s mothers out of the country and reunite them. As of March 17, the women were nearing safety after traveling through a “green zone” in Mariupol to escape Melitopol. Traveling through these areas is still dangerous, according to Kuchyk, and requires a vehicle or a paid driver. While getting her mother and future mother-in-law out of the country, she is simultaneously trying to find a ride for her friend.

“[Adel's] best friend’s in Mariupol [and] that’s the city everybody sees on the news right now. ... I’ve seen the toll it’s taken on her. I’ve seen when we have conversations together how exhausted she is just mentally and the anxiety of worrying for her mom, so I’m so excited her mom will be getting there, that we got her out,” Vitovsky said.

Vitovsky homeschools her twin sons, who have spent their free time making crafts to support Kuchyk since Feb. 28.

“We’ll be going into our third week because I gave them a week off when [the war] started and then we had school last week, but we were doing a lot in the afternoons and stuff after the schoolwork was done,” Vitovsky said in a March 17 interview.

All the while, the family has a Give Send Go account to help Kuchyk and her family with the costs of U.S. Visas. As of March 18, the family has raised $5,865 of their $30,000 goal.

The Vitovsky family plans to continue helping the rest of Kuchyk’s friends and relatives through fundraising. Within the coming weeks, Vitovsky said she is hoping to organize a bake sale and market event with Fairfield Baptist Church to benefit the Ukrainian family that she holds dear.

The Vitovsky family has hosted 11 exchange students over the years and welcomed Kuchyk into their home during the 2017-18 school year. During her time in Cypress, Kuchyk attended Bridgeland High School, where she participated in journalism and served on the yearbook committee.

Outside of school, she was also involved in the youth group at Fairfield Baptist Church and always gave back to the community that welcomed her through community service, especially in times of crisis, including Hurricane Harvey. Vitovsky said she has found the experience of hosting exchange students to be rewarding in many ways, including the exposure to other cultures.

“So I think it makes a difference in the support that you get when your country comes under fire or comes into challenging circumstances,” Vitovsky said. “I think that that kind of diplomacy really does make a difference.”

To support Kuchyk and her family, visit www.helpourdaughters.com.