Dozens gathered outside Ukrainian-owned SUMA Credit Union in Yonkers Friday to support Ukrainian soldiers and to support the humanitarian effort.

Organizers asked that people kneel or observe a moment of silence at exactly noon on Friday in honor of all the innocent lives lost.

"This is very sad day for me," says Ukrainian American Iryna Naksymyuk. "On Feb. 24 last year, 2022 my life and my family life in Ukraine was divided before war and life after."

Since the start of the war, SUMA has helped raise more than $300,000 locally to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Roman Kozicky is the credit union's CEO and is also a member of the local chapter of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. He lost a family member who was fighting on the front lines. Kozicky says while today is a somber anniversary, it also serves as a beacon of hope.

"In the beginning they thought this was going to be a three-day war," says Kozicky. "The only end of the war in Ukraine will be independence complete freedom, continued freedom and independence for all of Ukraine."

Bells also tolled across the country as the nation, and the Hudson Valley marked one year since Russia first invaded Ukraine.

St. Michael's Ukrainian Church in Yonkers was just one of numerous local churches of all denominations that tolled its bells for one full minute at noon on Friday.

St. Michael's has been a rallying point for the Hudson Valley's large Ukrainian community, and has been collecting donations, raising funds, and holding prayers.

The Yonkers Fire Department (Station 1) also joined in supporting the Ukrainian people.

Since the start of the war, more than six million Ukrainians have fled the country and another eight million are internally displaced, and thousands of Ukrainian children have been taken from their families and trafficked into Russia.