Alumni of American Fork High School Are fundraising for a home for the Ivahnenko Family

Yevgeny Ivahnenko (43, husband, father)
Oksana (42, wife, mother)
Denis (17, son)
Karina (22, daughter)
Vladislav Samoilov (35, son-in-law)
Karolina Samoilova (1, granddaughter)

On February 24, 2022 at 5:00 in the morning we woke up to the sounds of explosions and the roar of rockets and realized that the war had begun. I decided to evacuate my wife and children to the nearby city of Dergachi. Since I work as a village headman and our son-in-law, Vladislav, is a first responder, we returned and began to organize humanitarian aid and ways to evacuate people.

The shelling did not subside and the Russian occupiers began to advance towards Kharkiv. I decided to send my wife and children abroad and I returned to work in the Kharkiv area. Vladislav went to help his parents in another village, Kozacha Lopan, which fell under Russian occupation. In April 2022, two explosives flew into our yard and destroyed almost everything. I was forced to leave my home for the city of Dergachi, where I rented a small apartment and continued to fulfill my duties.

After the liberation of the Kharkiv region, our family immediately returned home. Kozacha Lopan was also freed from occupation allowing Vladislav to return to work as a first responder. Since I am a village headman, I travel to the village every day to help people, but at night I have to return to the city. In May 2023, our granddaughter, Karolina, was born. We all want to return home to live together in our native village and try to restore our house.