Amazon, Samaritas help resettled Ukrainian families ahead of St. Nicholas Day, Christmas

A stack of gifts for two little boys so far from home and another tower of presents for teenage girls.

The Christmas gifts are for five families who are refugees from war-torn Ukraine. It was made possible by a partnership between Amazon and Samaritas.

"(Her sons) chose everything for themselves, because they came from Ukraine with almost nothing so they are very happy to get those shoes and clothes," Iryna Kaldina said through an interpreter.

Shoes for families who left with little more than what they were wearing when they fled their homes. But they're also asking for other necessities like pillows and sheets and more on their Amazon wish lists.

"These families are going through tough times right now - the war is still going on in Ukraine - i know all of them had to leave what they call home so now they're in Detroit and we just wanted to bring them some sort of gifts - gift-giving celebration," Amazon spokesperson Austin Stowe said. "We wanted to just bring smiles to all of them."

Families like Olesia Lukach and her sons. She said she was surprised and happy to have been chosen for this special event and that her sons were so excited to finally have a laptop.

"They wanted to have a laptop, and they are very happy about that because it's games and it's a better way to study English and school and they have toys - of course," she said through an interpreter.

Amazon is also gifting each family an additional $1,000. St. Nicholas Day is December 19, an important celebration in Ukraine, that these families are celebrating here.

"I don't think anyone can really understand what it feels like to suddenly leave a war-torn country which these families have - so this has just been a magical experience," Kelli Dobner from Samaritas said.

This time of coming together and gifting and gratitude in such a powerful way so it really crosses cultures

Dobner says, so far, Samaritas has helped 450 Ukrainian refugees and more are coming. Southeast Michigan will ultimately have the third largest resettlement location in the country.

"We need as much help as we can get. We need housing, we need employment opportunities, we need transportation options, we want to work with school partners to best serve the kids that are coming in to our care," Dobner said.

Amazon is giving Samaritas $25,000 to help aid in those efforts. But more support will be needed - and not just as Christmas.

"It's a very important community that we need to be building right now to care for these families," Dobner said.

To learn more about how you can help with resettlement efforts, visit samaritas.org.