MILLVILLE, Utah — As the Russo-Ukrainian conflict continues, one family sought to help Ukrainians earlier this summer.

The Milligans of Millville, a town near the Idaho-Utah border, flew to Poland to donate supplies to those engaging in the conflict on the Ukrainian side of the border. After collecting medical supplies and body armor as well as donations from Cache Valley residents, the trio traveled to Poland on June 22.

Brittany Milligan flew with her son, Davey, and her husband David joined the duo a few days later. David’s sister, who served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ukraine, also joined them on the trip.

The Milligan family packed 40 sets of body armor as well as helmets and medical supplies. The three all had five checked suitcases in addition to the one the company usually allows passengers to check because of a contact at Delta Air Lines who approved their bags. One bag was lost in transit. David said the trip included a few person-to-person hand offs of supplies.

“We had 24 checked bags full of bulletproof helmets, medical supplies, and Kevlar body armor,” he said. “We took it there and met up with the driver we’d been put in contact with. He was actually a local Ukrainian who was a bishop in the local LDS ward that was driving back and forward. He met us in Krakow, and we loaded his van and a few days later he sent us photos of the armor arriving in Ukraine.”

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and the conflict has since escalated. Current estimates, including one from The New York Times, places the death toll in the tens of thousands over 150 days into the conflict.

The war does not seem to have an end in sight, something that concerns Brittany as it is no longer at the forefront of people’s minds or on the front page of most mainstream media sources.

“The news cycles changed, and I think there isn’t as much attention on the conflict,” she said. “People mistakenly think that things aren’t as bad in Ukraine, that they’re improving, but they aren’t really. It’s just not in the news.”

The Milligans were told four drivers, who were taking supplies from Poland into Ukraine, have been killed recently. Brittany said the country is still dangerous and the family didn’t cross into Ukraine since their assistance was not needed over the border.

David said the journey was particularly impactful to him because he knew how many people were directly assisted by the armor.

“The surreal thing for me was thinking about how many humanitarian organizations out there that do amazing things, but our trip, this armor literally will save someone’s life,” he said. “And that really struck home with me that we had a hand in helping with that.”

As the Milligans planned for their trip, they were put in contact with Ben Gochberg and his partners at Wasatch Pawn to purchase the body armor. Gochberg said the industry connections he and his partners have were essential in finding a way to help Ukrainians.

“This is a recent development for our business and our main goal is to help out in any way possible,” he said. “Because we have connections, we could source some things for families traveling over that they couldn’t otherwise get.”

Gochberg said Wasatch Pawn is buying the body armor at wholesale and not marking it up for people who want to take some over to Ukraine or those looking to donate it in some other way.

The Responsibility Foundation also helped the Milligans with their travels, as the foundation continues to receive donations to be sent to Ukraine and provided the family with some of the medical supplies they took over.

Brittany said she has some leftover armor they couldn’t take with them because of weight limits. She said the family is looking for people who are planning to travel internationally to take it with them alongside other ways to get the final materials in the hands of those fighting for Ukraine.

While in Poland, the Milligans visited a refugee center where mainly Ukrainian women and children were living since most the men remained in Ukraine to continue fighting Russian forces. Brittany said spending time with refugees reminded her of why trips like her family’s are necessary.

“These refugees are either hoping they can someday go home, and it’ll be safe, or they’re waiting to find out where they’ll be relocating,” she said. “That put a face on the war for us. We took them some clothing and essentials from friends and family who donated to us, as well as games. We got to know them and spend time with them for a few days.”

Gochberg said the donation from the Cache Valley and trips like the Milligan’s are particularly personal experiences since everyone involved — from the supply chain, to the people handing body armor to drivers in Ukraine — know one another.

“It’s something we’re proud of and we’ve taken time to verify,” he said. “Maybe someday all of us involved will be able to sit down and openly share all of the things we have had to do to make this happen. Until then, what we can say is that a small group of friends and patriots have been able to move hundreds of units of body armor through a volunteer supply line.”

As Davey prepares for his senior year of high school this August, he said the trip gave him a reality check he won’t soon forget.

“If I learned one thing from this trip, it’s perspective,” he said. “When we were in line at Auschwitz, we met someone from Ogden who lives an hour away from us and was in Poland helping bring supplies as well. There are people who want to help, and anything helps. Going to the refugee center made me realize that these are all kids who do the same things as us. They like soccer and play video games. They’re just people and it really puts everything into perspective.”