Joanna Krupa revealed her plans to help Ukrainian refugees as they flee their war-torn country and make for camps in Poland.
The 44-year-old star of the show Real Housewives of Miami was born in Warsaw, Poland and said that her husband, Douglas Nunes admired the Polish people so much that he was already in the country helping with the humanitarian effort.
Joanna revealed to TMZ that she will soon fly to her home country herself to provide assistance at a camp while her husband will return to the States to take care of their two-year-old daughter, Asha-Leigh.
She said she felt immensely proud of the effort Poles were making to help the Ukrainian people despite the strain the situation was causing:
“I’m just so proud of the Poles, the whole Polish community and everyone’s just volunteering, doctors, nurses, people are making food, people are organizing toys for the kids,” said the model.
“It just warms my heart to see how much good is being done during this really emotional and critical and sad time.”
The former Dancing With the Stars contestant said she recognized that the Polish people, like the Ukrainians, are living in fear and suspense:
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“I think everybody that’s, you know, Polish and lives there, of course they’re worried what’s next, what’s going to happen.”
Refugees from Ukraine receive food, medical attention and other supplies after entering Poland’s border town of Medyka.
The tide of people seeking refuge from Russia’s assault is rapidly developing into Europe’s biggest wave of migration since WW2 https://t.co/jLxI2fT4C4 pic.twitter.com/t6j5HibM9X
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) March 14, 2022
She went on to say that her husband Douglas felt a connection to her country of birth and its people after the couple had visited numerous times on vacations.
“We go there often and he fell in love with it, and when the whole war started he said, “I can’t just sit back and do nothing”…he has a lot of connections so I know he could be very helpful,” she explained.
“We decided I’ll stay here with my daughter and then we’ll probably switch when he gets back and I’ll go over there.”
Although she said she was initially concerned about safety in the areas and countries bordering the Ukrainian warzone, Joanna told how she overcame her fears and began to selflessly think about the devastation Ukrainian families have had to endure:
“At the beginning of the war, I was worried, but I think, you know, we can’t just sit back and be worried.
“I’m sitting with my daughter cuddled up in bed with a warm blanket and a pillow and these families, like, their lives have changed overnight.”
According to the UN, more than three million desperate Ukrainians have now fled their country, 1,916,000 of whom have headed to bordering nation Poland so far. Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia and Belarus have also taken in refugees.
Camps providing temporary shelter are being set up across Poland in football stadiums, schools and sports centers. There are donation collections, and pick-up points where Polish families can take in refugees. It’s a case of everyone pulling together and doing what they can.
“It’s natural to do this. The war is raging in our backyard,” said Ewa Godlewska-Jeneralska, a Polish woman who lives in the small Southern town of Czchow.
“The hardest thing for me is to see them thank us. Sometimes you haven’t done anything yet, just talked to them, and they are so incredibly grateful. We all cry with them.”