At the Encinitas Rotary Club meeting last week, Rotary members pulled together and raised nearly $20,000 for relief efforts in war-torn Ukraine.

Rotary Club member Daphne Fletcher gave a presentation about her trip back to Ukraine in search of the long-lost relatives of her great-grandmother, who came to America from Ukraine in the early 1900s for a “better life.”

The moving presentation prompted the club to start a fundraiser, which raised more than $17,000 in the first hour. The total consisted of donations from club members, guests and the Encinitas Rotary Foundation, which matched the first $5,000 raised.

In addition, Home Team Rotary Encinitas donated more than $1,000 in honor of the Uzhhorod Rotary Club’s version of the same program, which helps the elderly in the community.

So far, the Encinitas Rotary has raised $22,000.

Fletcher contacted the Rotary Club of Uzhhorod, the birthplace of her grandmother in western Ukraine, to find out if they needed help during the crisis. The Uzhhorod club then introduced a third club, the Rotary of Kosice, Slovakia, which borders Uzhhorod, to coordinate the logistics of getting the supplies transported over the border to Ukraine.

Since the start of conflict in Ukraine, Fletcher has been in close contact with her grandmother’s sister’s descendant, who told her that Uzhhorod has a large number of refugees in need of aid.

“After about a week into the conflict, the refugees started pouring into Uzhhorod where shelters have been set up in gymnasiums. Many are crossing the border to Slovakia, which is 2 kilometers away, or nearby Hungary ...” Fletcher said.

The Encinitas Rotary Club continues to collect donations for relief efforts in Ukraine through March 30. Check donations can be made out to Encinitas Rotary Foundation and mailed to Encinitas Rotary, P.O. Box 230223, Encinitas, CA 92023. For questions, email DavidLamRotary@gmail.com.