PARMA, Ohio — When you walk through the doors of Mama Maria's on State Road in Parma, you're immediately hit with a sense of warmth.
It could be from the kitchen, turning out hundreds of homemade jumbo pierogi. But it's also likely from the people, like Oksana, who welcome you as if you're family.
"Every month, every other month, we make a lot of stuffed cabbage, like 3,000," she said.
She's proud of the food she cooks and the country it comes from, but finding joy right now is difficult with far more pressing issues at the forefront of her mind.
"My mom live(s) over there she sit(s) in a basement. I don't know how we can help," Oksana said.
Oksana, like many of the Ukrainian Americans we've talked to, would like to see world leaders doing more for her country, especially for her mom.
"We talk in the morning, she said it's a lot of alarm system(s), they have to go to basement every hour," Oksana said.
But here in Parma, in the restaurant that feels like you're sitting in Mom's kitchen, she says her neighbors are giving her all the support they can.
"Everybody come(s) here and they know the situation. It's a lot of Ukrainian here, it's first, second generation and they can just be strong, but we are here, we are strong. We are here, but over there it's a bad situation," Oksana said.
Related Stories:
- Parma mayor joins Global Cleveland in pledge of support to Ukrainian community
- Cleveland woman worried about her family in Ukraine as Russian invasion continues
- BBB: How to wisely donate to Ukraine relief efforts
- Ukraine's capital under threat as Russia presses invasion
- White House to impose new sanctions targeting Putin himself
- Cleveland for Ukraine: Prayers and pleas for Ukraine at Pokrova Parish in Parma as Russian invasion continues