Wasaga Beach humanitarian aid worker helping overseas

A Wasaga Beach woman is in Europe helping thousands of people who have fled the war and those who desperately want to stay behind.

"It's their homeland. They want to go back to their home," explains Kathy Mueller.

Mueller is a humanitarian aid worker with the Red Cross, meeting with people who have taken in strangers, providing food and shelter and giving them hope for a better tomorrow.

The Red Cross drops off supplies to seniors while comforting young families and crying children in shelters who don't understand why they can't return home.

"They basically need everything. I saw a little girl - she was probably two or three carrying her own bag of diapers at the border. We're hearing from children, we talk to them, and they just want to go back and play in their grandmother's yard with their friends," Mueller said.

As the Russian offensive continues, millions have fled to neighbouring countries like Poland, Moldova and Hungary, where Mueller and her team have provided shelter to those displaced and in limbo with nowhere else to go.

"Even if the conflict was to end tomorrow, it's still going to take years to rebuild and help people get back on their feet," Mueller said.

She plans to return home next month and encourages others to donate to the Canadian Red Cross to help their efforts in Ukraine and Europe.