Irondequoit-Poltava sister cities organization continues its mission (08/10/03)

Irondequoit-Poltava sister cities organization continues its mission

by Anne Kornylo

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - For almost 100 years, the town of Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester, N.Y. has been home to a large number of residents of Ukrainian descent. For this reason, when Ukraine declared its independence in 1991, Irondequoit Town Supervisor Fred Lapple, with the unanimous support of the Town Council, approved the establishment of a sister cities relationship between Irondequoit and a city in Ukraine.

Tamara Denysenko, a Ukrainian community activist, General Manager/CEO of the Rochester Ukrainian Federal Credit Union and a long time Irondequoit resident, assisted by other members of the community spearheaded the effort to establish a relationship with a city in Ukraine. She helped to cement such a relationship with the historic city of Poltava in 1992 and served as president of the Irondequoit-Poltava committee for 10 years. The initial membership was small but stalwart and consisted of members of Ukrainian heritage, as well as members from the Irondequoit community who wanted to see an international program build bridges of understanding at the grass roots level.

The committee's mission as part of the international sister cities program is to strengthen partnerships between the United States and the international community by promoting cultural understanding and by stimulating economic development in both countries. The intent is to make international affairs deeply personal for people around the world on the community and personal levels.

Since its inception, the organization has had remarkable success implementing its mission statement. Some of its noteworthy projects have included: shipping over $75,000 in humanitarian aid to Poltava for hospitals, sponsoring several Poltava delegations for cultural exchanges, coordinating pen pal exchange programs with local high schools, sponsoring community education sessions and weekly television programming, holding book drives and shipping books to schools in Poltava and sponsoring foster parent programs.

In addition, the organization co-sponsored with the Irondequoit Rotary a pacemaker project to save a child's life, provided annual scholarships for Irondequoit high school students, sponsored a youth tournament between the Irondequoit and Poltava soccer teams, formed a partnership with the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund (CCRF) to fund the neonatal unit at the Poltava Maternity Hospital and most recently spearheaded the formation of the Ukrainian American sports club Poltava.

Over the years, various people showed their generous support of the organization's goals - among them State Sen. James Alesi, who helped secure grants for the organization for the past several years. The Rev. Richard C. Kinsky, a retired priest from Christ the King Roman Catholic Church, served as the committee's volunteer treasurer for many years.

The organization currently is signing up new members who are enthusiastic about the Irondequoit-Poltava Sister cities mission. The new members come armed with energy, enthusiasm and numerous ideas for future projects and how to implement them. Anne Kornylo, the new president, feels the organization has a multi-talented membership that can continue carrying the mission-torch for another generation of charitable and educational projects. Other newly elected officers of the committee include: Co-Vice-Presidents Dr. Christine Hoshowsky and Maria Pawluk, Secretary Alex Loj and Treasurer Wasyl Kornylo.

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