How a Delco grandmother helped Ukraine over the holidays

By Madeleine Wright

December 26, 2022 / 7:36 PM / CBS Philadelphia

SPRINGFIELD, Pa. (CBS) -- A Delaware County grandmother is knitting gloves and socks to send to orphans and soldiers in war-torn Ukraine. On Monday night, her grandson is thanking the community for stepping up in a big way to help her out.

Every year, Paul Kostyukov from Springfield gives his grandma yarn for Christmas.

"She's a really fast knitter," Kostyukov said.

But this year, he decided to go all out.

"I'm moving this year to Florida, so I can't give her any more yarn in the future because it's going to be way too much, so, I want to give her enough yarn for a lifetime," Kostyukov said.

In total, he collected more than 3,000 bundles of yarn. But he didn't do it alone. Last month, he posted a message on Facebook asking for donations, and the community did not disappoint.

"I spent quite a lot of weekends driving around Delaware County just going to different houses collecting yarn," Kostyukov said.

The yarn will help his grandma, Galyna Grigoriyevna, with an important mission. For the last four or five years, she's been knitting socks and gloves and sending them to orphans in her birth country of Ukraine.

Paul Kostyukov of Springfield Township, Delaware Co. gave his 72-year-old grandma Galyna Grigoriyevna more than 3,000 bundles of yarn for Christmas. She's planning to use the yarn to knit socks and gloves for orphans, refugees and soldiers in her war-torn homeland of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/PmCZ31nrdz

But now that the country is under attack, she's also making socks and gloves for refugees and Ukrainian soldiers who are defending their homeland.

"They're attacking the power grids right now," Kostyukov said. "So, most of Ukraine right now has no power, has no heat."

The socks and gloves will provide vital warmth in the bitter winter cold.

And this was grandma's reaction when she saw her surprise Christmas gift. She told her grandson she doesn't have enough years left on earth to knit all this yarn, but she's grateful to the community for stepping up.

"My grandma's a hero," Kostyukov said. "People I keep saying like, I did a lot of good things here. I did nothing. All I did was get some yarn."

Kostyukov said it usually takes his grandmother a day to turn one of these into socks or gloves, so at this rate, he's hoping that in two months, she'll have enough pairs for the first shipment of the year to Ukraine.

Madeleine Wright is a bilingual general assignment reporter for CBS3 Eyewitness News. She joined the team in January 2022.

First published on December 26, 2022 / 7:36 PM