May 19, 2017

Yonkers community rallies with donations for wounded Ukrainian soldiers and refugees

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Motrja Bojko-Watters (left) of the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee and Oksana Kiciuk-Kulynych, organizer of a humanitarian aid drive in Yonkers, N.Y.

Springtime is a chance to clean, de-clutter and organize. After starting this task, I realized that I had an extra wheelchair, a walker and many other items I no longer needed. It immediately brought to mind images of the wounded Ukrainian soldiers whose lives were forever changed by the war. I thought of the many families who had lost everything with the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine.

I contacted the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee in Philadelphia, an organization that regularly ships humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and asked if they would accept these items as donations. They replied with an enthusiastic “yes,” as long as there were enough things to make it worth their while to send a van to Yonkers, N.Y.

A request for donations was put into the bulletin of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, the SUMA Federal Credit Union, as well as the Ukrainian American Youth Association’s Facebook page, and e-mails were sent to individuals. The Yonkers community and surrounding areas responded with overwhelming support. It was very gratifying to hear from the many individuals who donated and felt that they were giving to this worthy cause.

Among the many items that were collected were a hospital bed, 10 wheelchairs and transfer chairs, 12 walkers, shower chairs, portable toilets, canes, crutches, bed rails, medical, school and office supplies, as well as many boxes and bags of clothing, linens, blankets, etc.

Volunteers (from left) Stefan Yaremchuk, Yurij Nakonechny and Slavko Kiciuk load the truck with donated items bound for Ukraine.

Volunteers (from left) Stefan Yaremchuk, Yurij Nakonechny and Slavko Kiciuk load the truck with donated items bound for Ukraine.

A truck, loaded by three men from UUARC, was filled to capacity with the donations, which will be shipped to the many needy areas in Ukraine. They were so grateful and indicated that there is a real need for this type of humanitarian assistance which should be continued.

The event was reported in the online edition of the Journal News on April 27 and the printed edition on April 28 by Ernie Garcia, who interviewed Oksana Kulynych, the organizer of the donation drive, and Motrja Bojko-Watters from the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee. The story and video can be viewed at http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/yonkers/2017/04/27/ukraine-war/100980436/

The following families gave generous donations to the project: Bundziak, Cohen, Demetropoulos, Hulinsky, Kaszczak, Kiciuk, Kowal, Kulynych, Mikula, Prybyla, Rudensky-Silver, Smith, Soroka-Wolf, Syrko-Esposito and Szkafarowsky.

Oksana Kiciuk-Kulynych is a longtime activist in the Ukrainian community. For more information, readers may contact her at 914-965-6467 or [email protected].

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