GRAHAM, N.C. — A Graham teacher is working to get five family members out of Ukraine as the Russian invasion of the country continues.
Svitlana Coon is a teacher at B. Everett Jordan Elementary School in Graham. She originally came to the United States in 2006, but several of her family members, including her mother and father, are still in Ukraine, specially Kharkiv.
"My father called this morning and he said please do anything, try to take (...) your mom, your sister, your niece out of the city because it’s really dangerous right there," Coon said. "(It's) hard to sleep, hard to do anything, so I know my father (is) a very strong person and he never cries but this morning he was crying."
Conn said part of the issue is having a passport. Some of her family members don't have one or it is expired. Evacuation can also be expensive. Kelley Curtis, a parent of one of Coon's students, set up a GoFundMe page to help Coon raise money for her family.
"They need to get out," Curtis said. "So they need safety and we can’t do it without funds. So anything people can give, there’s got to be good-hearted people out there who want to help."
Coon said she is worried every day for her family.
"I (...) cannot imagine what hope they have and I’m trying to talk to them (when) possible," Coon said. "I’m feeling like they lost their hope."