Irondequoit helps Poltava (02/09/97)

Irondequoit helps Poltava

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - In mid-November 1996 the Irondequoit-Poltava Sister Cities Committee sent its second shipment of humanitarian aid, primarily medical supplies collected from area individuals and medical facilities, to Ukraine.

This shipment was bound for the Mother's and Children's Hospital in the city of Kamin-Kashyrsk, in the Polissia region of Ukraine - an area designated as the third zone of Chornobyl. The retail value of the items collected was estimated at $55,000. The shipment included hospital beds, disposable and portable medical supplies, dental equipment, infant and children's items.

Ludmila Labash, president of the Irondequoit-Poltava Sister Cities Committee, and her husband, Mykola, organized the effort, along with committee members Harry Rab, the Rev. Richard C. Kinsky, Walter Denysenko and Bill Bastuk, chairman of the Irondequoit Sister Cities Council.

Though this second shipment was not expected to arrive at its destination until sometime in January, Mrs. Labash and committee members have already started collecting for a third shipment to an area of Ukraine that has little or no access to medical supplies.

The first shipment, valued at over $30,000, was made to the 200-bed Poltava Children's Clinical Hospital in 1995.

Since the establishment of the sister cities relationship with Poltava in 1991, the committee has provided financial support to several Poltava schools, community, cultural and religious organizations. Currently, committee member Tamara Denysenko is working with counterparts in Poltava to provide awards to students who excel in English, Ukrainian culture and the arts.

For more information contact Tamara Denysenko, (716) 544-9518; or write to: International Sister Cities Council of Irondequoit, c/o Tamara Denysenko, 93 Montaine Park, Rochester, NY 14617.

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