BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio — A senior from Brecksville-Broadview Heights has raised thousands of dollars for Ukraine by participating in a TikTok challenge.
Olena Sadovska was born in Lviv, Ukraine before moving to the United States at nine months old.
She still has family that lives in the country.
"We Skype them almost every day just to keep in touch with them and talk about how everything's going, how they're staying safe and just things like that, but we are able to stay in touch with them and very thankful for that," Sadovska said.
Last month, Sadovska did a 24-hour stair climb to raise awareness for a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
Sadovska came up with the idea after seeing that Britain's swim team swam the distance of Ukraine to raise money.
"I felt like it resembled like the amount of steps or how long the people that are trying to escape Ukraine had a walk and how much they had to go through in order to find safety," Sadovska said.
She documented her experience on TikTok and her video has been viewed more than 13 million times.
Sadovska said even though the stair climbing was pretty brutal, she has no regrets.
"It was definitely the most challenging thing I've ever done. But totally worth it," said Sadovska.
Sadovska's initial goal was to raise $5,000 for Ukraine but she has raised more than $12,000.
"I'm working with the Ukraine Relief Organization. As soon as I end the fundraiser, the money goes directly to them and they send it over to Ukraine," Sadovska said.
She also raised $500 from an in-person tip jar and plans on working with the local Ukrainian Bank in Parma to make sure the funds get into the right hands.
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