BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR) — Students and parents gathered Saturday at Fairview High School for a unique opportunity to hear directly from kids in war-torn Ukraine. 

The Zoom call lasted for about 25 minutes, with people here in Colorado asking questions to the class more than 5,000 miles away.

But it also served a different purpose, a chance for the group of Ukrainians to thank the group in Boulder for its unique gift.

Over the past few months, the group has been taking old solar panels and giving them new life by turning them into portable chargers for cell phones and laptops.

The school, located about 60 miles West of Kyiv, received one of those shipments.

“It seems like a small thing that you’re doing, but it’s a big thing, because it’s from people to people,” one man on the call said. 

FOX31 highlighted the work back in February, and it caught the eye of a woman in Aurora.

Andy Lenec said her husband purchased some solar panels but sadly passed away before he could install them.

They sat unused in their shed for a decade, until she saw the story.

“She saw the story, she got in touch with me, and she said I’d like to donate these panels,” Lenec said.

Saturday, students and parents got to work, turning those 28 panels into chargers, which will be sent to Ukraine.

Each features artwork and messages on the back, a powerful message from thousands of miles away.

“When the people in Ukraine open up those packages, there’s not just the utility of being able to charge your phone, but they see we are not forgotten. That people across the world and in America care for us, and care for our safety,” says Lenec.

If you’d like to help, you can reach Andy Lenec at alenec@optonline.net