The unease Christina Bilyk felt grew steadily for weeks as Russian soldiers surrounded Ukraine. Around 11 p.m. on the final Wednesday of February, when the explosions started, her angst turned to disbelief.

            When Bilyk told her husband Vitaly the bombing was underway, she says he didn't initially believe her. They monitored the news of Russia's military invasion of their home country all night. Instead of sleeping, Bilyk wrote poems in her native language while crying and praying.

            "I became so upset with what I was seeing on television," said Bilyk, who lives in East Greenville.

            Within a week, the State Street resident created a fundraising drive to collect items to assist the residents of her native nation. Palm Schwenkfelder Church, located at 833 Gravel Pike, has collected items for Ukrainians in need for nearly a month. So far, Vitaly Bilyk has made four trips with a sprinter van – filled with supplies – to the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center in Lower Moreland.

            Numerous organizations from as far away as Allentown have contributed, according to Leslie Reyburn-Shisler, Palm Schwenkfelder's church administrator. In an email message, she described the process as "chaotic in a wonderful way."

            Contributions have been received from multiple groups, including St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Pennsburg, residents of the Spring Valley Retirement Community in Bechtelsville, some staff groups at Grandview Hospital and the Advent Lutheran Church in Lansdale.

            Boxes have been provided by Stauffer Safety and Glove, and students at Upper Perkiomen High School are holding a drive to collect items.

            "Once I sent out the email blast, this took on a life of its own," Reyburn-Shisler said Tuesday morning.

            Bilyk, who has grandparents and several cousins remaining in her former hometown of Lviv, said she had to do something to support her native nation. Four days after the Feb. 23 invasion, she and a friend checked the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center's website for a list of necessary items.

            On March 1, while picking up her son Matthew at the church, Bilyk, 31, asked Palm Schwenkfelder officials to help spread the word of her drive and possibly collect donations. She handed Reyburn-Shisler a list of needed items that included medicine, diapers, children's clothing, thermal underwear, warm coats and shoes and food.

            Each week, the ask changes. Currently, Bilyk is requesting medical kits, military clothing and cold-weather gear. Hygiene products, pet food, clothing, baby food, tents, sleeping bags and yoga mats have also been requested. A new update for March 22-24 includes a call for CAT tourniquets, CELOX hemostatic granules, dark colored tactical gloves and technical fleece, military boots and socks, portable solar power banks, flashlights and batteries, compasses, pain patches, splints, individual packets of Tylenol/Advil and high protein bars.

            Palm Schwenkfelder has experienced multiple repeat donors, according to Reyburn-Shisler. She wrote that some individuals come with trunks full of items that they collected. Others drop off their donations and stay to speak about the situation, according to the administrator.

            "For some it's 100 percent cathartic," she said. "It has really been a blessing."

            Bilyk's family members in harm's way remain in her thoughts. She said her 59-year-old father-in-law, currently in Spain, expects to return to Ukraine to fight.

            Two weeks before the invasion, her brother left the country to come to America. Mark Sydor, 21, currently lives with his sister and her family. 

"I'm angry," said Sydor, a college student who had been living in Kyiv for four years while studying cyber security.

            The 21-year-old wants to return to Ukraine to take up arms against Russia. However, Bilyk said she and their mother don't want him to go back.

            Though the fundraising drive is scheduled to expire April 7, Bilyk expressed hope that it could continue. She said she won't stop being productive for the benefit of her home country.

            "Doing this provides me with some level of satisfaction," said Bilyk, who emigrated to the United States in 2011 and moved to East Greenville two years ago. "Otherwise, I have a feeling of helplessness."