Alexandr Mitin is sheltering in his darkened bomb-damaged apartment in Kherson, Ukraine, where winters are long, cold and snowy. He can’t have the lights on at night.
"Russians are bombing all the time, for the last day it was about 63 missile attacks in this city," he told KCLU.
He shows me a portable propane stove for cooking. A stove which was donated to him thanks to money raised by a Santa Barbara non-profit.
Now he is able to cook for him and his daughter, he explains.
A dance class in Santa Barbara might seem a world away from the brutalities of war in Ukraine. But this is World Dance for Humanity – a non-profit that aims to bring dancing to all ages and abilities, and raise money for a good cause in the process.
Janet Reineck, who runs World Dance for Humanity, says that while government can help on a large scale, she wanted to find a way to make a difference to those living in the war-torn country.
"Our group is helping in these small ways, person to person, heart to heart," said Reineck.
"Just doing our best to make sure people in Santa Barbara feel like common humanity with the people of Ukraine," said Reineck.
The stoves are one way that the non-profit helps folks like Alex. He says he tries to be sparing with the fuel needed to run the stove but smiles as he recounts how last week, he used it to make Borscht for him and his daughter which lasted him for days.
It was a comfort after living in war-time conditions for nearly a year, to have warm, familiar and favorite food.
As well as these cooking stoves, Reineck has been fundraising for wood-burning stoves to help keep Ukrainians warm as they shelter in what’s being called, invincibility shelters. They are bomb shelters, where people can go for warmth, shelter, food and to recharge their phones. The stoves are hand-crafted by a family in Kyiv, the man who invented them was killed last September on the road to Kherson, while delivering one of the stoves and his family have continued to make them in spite of the tragedy. Names of donors and messages in Ukrainian are painted onto the stoves.
"To be able to connect so deeply and personally with people in Ukraine who are suffering through this war is such a privilege - we are lucky to have found the way to do that through our community here," said Reineck.
Elena Ivannykova is in Kyiv. She helps to distribute the stoves. Tears well up in her eyes as she describes the impact of being helped by strangers, strangers she calls her American friends, in Santa Barbara.
"It keeps me alive, when living in this terrible situation," said Ivannykova.
Reineck says the humanity and personal help that comes with sending warmth and the means to cook a hot meal, is one step that meets the immediate needs of Ukrainians under attack.