Showing Support for the Children of Ukraine

As the war in Ukraine continues on, each day’s news brings increasingly heartbreaking images, stories and
statistics. As parents, it can be difficult to find ways to talk to our children about what is happening. The sense of
helplessness that we all feel carries over to our kids. What can any of us do? Author, filmmaker and community
organizer Carew Papritz is constantly looking for ways to inspire kids to greater community involvement. Several years ago, he created National Thank You Letter Day and kicked it off at Continental Elementary School in Arizona with the World’s Largest Handwritten Thank You Letter, Envelope, and Stamp (the size of a high school basketball gym) which was officially sent through the US Postal Service. For this endeavor, they recently received a Guinness World Record! Papritz wanted to continue in his community efforts from this record and was thus inspired to create Project Gratitude as a way to get local students involved in supporting Ukrainian kids their own age. With personally
handwritten letters, it is his hope that these students can bring some level of support and encouragement to Ukrainian kids who are devastated by the war. Papritz and the community are contacting schools in Poland to deliver these letters to the Ukrainian kids who are now attending school there.

How has your family learned to communicate about the war? What local efforts have you seen that help kids show support for the children of Ukraine? Let us know. We’d love to share with our readers!