Fairfield Native Bringing Ukrainian Refugees To Germany With Convoys

FAIRFIELD, CT — A Fairfield native living in Germany is helping Ukrainian refugees complete their journeys to safety by driving in war relief convoys from Poland to Germany.

Emily Kilgannon-Neumann has participated in two convoys during the last month — shuttling clothes, food and medical supplies to Kraków, Poland, and returning to Germany with refugees from Ukraine.

“It feels like reality and it feels surreal at the same time,” Kilgannon-Neumann said in a recent Zoom interview with Fairfield Patch. “I just didn’t know I would ever be helping in this manner.”

A 2012 graduate of Fairfield Warde High School, Kilgannon-Neumann moved to Germany in 2015 after spending time in the country during college. She now works as a biological laboratory technician and lives in the village of Uthlede. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Kilgannon-Neumann donated money to help the Ukrainian people, but, given her proximity to Ukraine, she wanted to do more.

“I feel like it’s kind of a responsibility, as a person, just trying to help where it’s possible,” she said.

For her first convoy, Kilgannon-Neumann traveled in one of 14 cars that transported a total of 40 refugees during the first weekend in March. After a 13-hour drive, the convoy dropped off supplies in Kraków, which would continue on to Kyiv, Ukraine. For the return trip, Kilgannon-Neumann and her copilot brought a Ukrainian family of five women and six children to Hamburg, Germany.

The women’s husbands had accompanied them to the Polish border, she said. Once the family reached the border, all 11 of them — including an 85-year-old woman and a 7-year-old child — walked 10 hours in the snow to get to a train to Kraków.

During the drive to Hamburg, the oldest boy, who was 16, worried about his father, his country, his friends and starting a new life, Kilgannon-Neumann said. She has remained in contact with the family, who are staying with friends and working to get the children enrolled in school.

“It gives me goosebumps just to know that I may have helped somebody change the trajectory of their life,” she said. “It is a lot to take in.”

Kilgannon-Neumann went on a second convoy over the past weekend and is collecting funds to support her refugee relief efforts. To donate, visit gofund.me/f6df864e.