Members of the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland recently returned from a visit to the Ukraine-Poland border and saw firsthand how donations are helping people in the war-torn region.

"It's hard to picture and imagine what these people are going through until you speak to them, until you hear from them, until you see the anguish in their face," says Ari Rosenblum, CEO of the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland.

Rosenblum and past president Lisa Green just returned from a two-day trip overseas. Rosenblum showed News 12 images snapped along the way. He also shared stories from people who escaped the war-torn cities.

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"We spoke to refugees who escaped under shelling, who had to crawl out of the cars in the middle of fields because Russians were lobbing artillery shells at the road they were on," says Rosenblum.

Rosenblum says the federation has given about $43 million with $80,000 coming from 350 Rockland donors. The two were able to see how the donations are helping other organizations on the ground in the region.

Oskana Hauser, of Stony Point, says it's a big relief to know that people are getting help. Hauser also did her part by mobilizing a countywide effort to collect supplies for her home country of Ukraine.

"There is nothing we can do to replace what people lost, but what we can do is help them to move forward with their lives," says Hauser.