In 2021, my mother was planning to take me and my family to Odessa, a small city in Ukraine, to experience the beauty of her homeland, meet the people she used to know, and see her childhood home during the summer. I never got to see my mothers home, however, because that February, Ukraine was invaded by Russian forces. The war was difficult for our entire family, but especially my mother who still keeps in touch with people from back home. She told us about how her old classmate was running from the war with her family and how she couldn’t just sit and do nothing. So, in November of 2022, my family took in the daughter of my mother’s old classmate to live with us in the U.S. This experience changed my life, and I now feel that I have a new sister. Being close with a survivor of unimaginable terror, I now know the meaning behind war. Her story has been a stalwart inspiration for this project, and has pushed me to take action. A family friend who works for an organization that flies doctors and supplies to Kyiv’s children hospitals told me about his experience, and I was inspired to help the thousands of young refugees that end up in these low-on-supplies hospitals. Now, with my family’s support, I have created and illustrated a book of poetry and a short story in the hope of raising money for Ukraine’s struggling children’s hospitals. I named this organization “illustrating Nadia”-which in Ukrainian means “illustrating hope”-because I hope for a better future for Ukraine and it’s people. I hope my story and the story of my Ukrainian friend inspires many to take action and support the struggling civilians that are currently being affected by this war.