A local  woman is helping those in need who have fled their homeland in Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion and have found their way to Saskatoon.

Nettie Cherniatenski  has started a new shop called Baba’s Closet, a warehouse located on 51st Street that has everything from kitchen supplies, bedding, towels and hygiene items for those who are now calling Saskatoon home.

Cherniatenski started in her garage but found the space wasn’t big enough for the amount of donations she was receiving.

That’s when she made the jump to 51st Street.

She says the focus for June will be collecting non-perishable food items.

“So we’re going to concentrate on just groceries for the month of June because we can’t even walk in the warehouse right now because we have so much donations so we have to sort everything and have the customers and pick everything up and dwindle down a little bit.”

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress Saskatoon branch has helped with the initiative by recommending people to Baba’s Closet to look and browse for free items to help get them started with their new life in Canada.

Baba’s Closet is located at 4-811 51st Street and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Donations can also be dropped off during those hours.