North Dakota Ukrainian institute donates aid to Chornobyl region (07/21/96)

North Dakota Ukrainian institute donates aid to Chornobyl region

DICKINSON, N.D. - Ten tons of humanitarian aid left here on May 20, destined to a country thousands of miles away. The semi-truck container moving the aid will travel to Norfolk, Va., where it will be placed aboard the ship Amerigo Vespucci. The ship's route will take it through the Strait of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea into Odessa, Ukraine. There the container will be placed on wheels again and moved to a town near Chornobyl.

The humanitarian aid packed into the 1,100 cubic feet of space is western North Dakota's gift to a people who are suffering because of their proximity to the world's worst nuclear disaster and struggling to survive in an economy raging with inflation. It is also the U.S. government program identified as Operation Support Freedom, which transports aid to the newly independent states (NIS) of the former Soviet Union.

To sponsor the aid, the specifications called for the contents to consist of warm clothing, medical supplies and non-perishable food. The call for the aid was made in March by the local sponsor, the Ukrainian Cultural Institute. The response was overwhelming.

Family after family arrived carrying boxes of neatly folded clothes and non-perishable food. A church group from Beulah arrived with a pick-up of quilts, baby blankets and sleepers. St. Joseph Hospital and pharmaceutical companies provided health-related supplies, and concerned people donated cash to purchase food. As one young mother who delivered boxes of children's clothes and baby formula explained, "We owe it to help the people in need. We have so much."

Donors were very proud of their contributions. "See these shoes? They are brand new," she said. "They were my husband's, but he never wore them," she added.

Sports jackets worn by a well-dressed salesman, a leather coat worn by a stylish woman, and sneakers outgrown by a child's feet are on their way to serve a people in need.

What is it like to see people thousands of miles away wearing your clothes? Agnes Palanuk had that experience last summer. "All I could think was that they looked a hell of a lot better on them than on me," she recalled.

The semi-truck delivering the container arrived on the morning of May 16 and packing began at 1 p.m. George Kuchynski climbed into the container, claiming he'd had experience packing "tightly." He was joined by Bruce Sprynczynatyk and together they constructed walls of boxes 8 feet high. They were joined by Clifford Netz of the Hand in Hand Together organization, which provided the administration for the project.

Four sixth graders from Sue Jacobson's class in Jefferson School, Leah Himmelspach, Amanda Brudvig, Jennifer Newby and Kayla Skjerm, stacked the boxes on caddies and moved them to the packing area. Peter Malkowski's assistance was peppered with folklore expressions that Ms. Palanuk tried to remember. Helping hands came from Ben Makaruk, Claudia Jacobson, Kay Netz and their mother.

Roy Basaraba was the new energy on May 17. Inside the institute, Marie Makaruk vacuumed the area from which the boxes were removed. At 3:30 p.m. on May 18, little Austin Spryncznatyk squeezed the lock that was the final touch to the undertaking.

Ukrainian Cultural Institute coordinators Robbie Obach and Ms. Palanuk worried whether people could be adequately thanked for their generosity. The donor's joy of giving may come from visualizing a child in a cold classroom in Ukraine, feeling a bit warmer in the sweater they donated, or a grandmother wearing a pair of shoes instead of galoshes, her only footwear, or the baby gaining strength from the formula they sent. Or they can take pride that they are endowed with a generous spirit which can identify and respond to a need.

To all of them, the Ukrainian Cultural Institute said, "Thank you."

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