APPEAL FOR INVOLVEMENT: Help ailing children of Ukraine (10/15/00)

APPEAL FOR INVOLVEMENT: Help ailing children of Ukraine

by Peter Oleschuk

VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. - The Ukrainian Gift of Life Committee of Rotary District 7250 announced that in the month of September three children from Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, had successful open heart surgery.

Dmytro Fillipchuk, 14, had surgery at Deborah Hospital in New Jersey; Evhenia Uss, 12, at Montefiore Hospital, New York; and Anastasia Drobot, 6, at St. Francis Hospital, New York.

In addition, the following received open heart surgery in our program launched in Kyiv at the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Institute of Cardio-Vascular Surgery: Bohdan Shevchenko, 3; Yevhenia Zyronova, 8; Ruslan Halameya, 5; Olena Zosym, 7; and Maxym Isaev, 7, all from the Sumy Oblast; as well as Nadia Petryk, 1, Volyn Oblast; and Leonid Brazgko, 14, Mykolaiv Oblast. All seven were released with their total health restored.

With surgeries on 10 children completed as of September, an additional 18 are scheduled to be completed in the near term.

The year 2000 has been a good year for children from Ukraine. Our new team in Chicago recently supported us as Anna Savchuk, Antonia Brus and Olga Volkova went home with repaired hearts. Six-year-old Ruslan Lesniy 6, from Ternopil is expected to arrive at the end of November.

Gift of Life also helped 10-year-old Ivan Petryk from Chernivtsi with the support of a new group joining us in Syracuse, N.Y.; Denis Baistruchenko from Chernivtsi, 12, recently went home after successful heart surgery with help from our new group in Yonkers, N.Y.

New Jersey volunteers just sent 9-year-old Olexiy Kovaliov from Kryvyi Rih back home after successful surgery and are expecting another child soon.

In May of this year, we also completed the following surgeries in Kyiv: Volodymyr Demyshyn, 14, Vinnytsia; Olesya Ripka, 15, Chernivtsi; Dmytro Belych, 9, Kirovohrad; Grygir Zgrevetz, 2, Kirovohrad; Olena Roslyak, 12, Mykolaiv; Viacheslav Pueriy, 14, Vinnytsia; Tetyana Glubenko, 6, Odesa; Vasyl Matadgyk, 13, Verkhovyna; Iryna Hlystun, 7 months, Kirovohrad; Vasyl Bukharin, 4, Zakarpattia; Tetyana Rekalo, 4, Chernihiv; Ivan Dychka, 11, Dolynskyi; Inna Yasen, 11, Zdolbunivskyi; Ruslan Bereza, 4, Kirovohrad; Mykola Kazmirchuk, 14, Vinnytsia; Victoria Goncharenko, 3, Kyiv; Viacheslav Vilhovetsky, 4, Kirovohrad; Volodymyr Levytsky, 1, Ternopil; Maksym Malofij, 13, Chernivtsi; Andrij Mometko, 15, Chernivtsi; Olexandra Pylypenko, 11 months, Cherkasy; Maryana Marchuk, 1, Ternopil; Nazariy Karpenko, 4, Kyiv; Diana Buryak, 5 months, Kolomyia; and Ihor Demesuk, 4 months, Ternopil.

That's a total of 60 completed and 20 scheduled surgeries. As extensively as we've increased our growth, we need to develop our fund-raising. This is the first time we are approaching the press and media of the Ukrainian community to help us save more children.

Two organizations have stood firm in helping us with most of our costs: Rotary District 7250 on Long Island, New York, where the Gift of Life program was started 25 years ago, and the Ukrainian American Freedom Foundation and its volunteers in New York and New Jersey, who have been paying most of the operational expenses and costs of travel for these children.

Many volunteers have come to work with us in all areas. Several local fund-raisers have been held on Long Island. (In order not to offend anyone through an accidental omission, and due to limitations of space, I am not providing their names.) Our growth, however, requires additional volunteers with time to offer in transportation, translation and hosting in their homes.

The Ukrainian Gift of Life Committee is focusing its efforts on assisting 100 children this year and are reorganizing to grow to no less than 200 for next year. The continued growth of support and volunteers from our Ukrainian community is essential for us to reach our goals.

If you wish to join forces with us by offering contributions of time or funding, please contact us at: Gift of Life Inc. - Ukrainian Committee, P.O. Box 595, Valley Stream, NY 11580; (516) 561-5311.

Peter Oleschuk is chairman of the board of directors and founder of the Ukrainian Gift of Life Committee of Rotary District 7250. He may be contacted via e-mail at PeterOleschuk@yahoo.com.

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