Rochester area golfers raise funds for Chornobyl relief (11/14/99)

Rochester area golfers raise funds for Chornobyl relief

GREECE, N.Y. - On a balmy Saturday afternoon in September, more than 80 golfers from the Greater Rochester area came together for their favorite pastime and raised more than $4,300 for the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund and the Poltava-Irondequoit Sister Cities Project.

The September 18 golf tournament was the first in what organizers hope will become an annual charity event. Proceeds from the tournament were designated for a new neonatal intensive care unit at the Poltava Maternity Hospital.

Earlier this year, CCRF and the Sister Cities Project had joined forces to deliver over $90,000 worth of neonatal technology to the Poltava City Maternity Hospital, in an effort to help reduce infant mortality and save the lives of mothers and infants who experience various complications during delivery.

The golf tournament at the picturesque Deerfield Country Club drew a diverse crowd of golf enthusiasts, including representatives of various Rochester-area businesses, Ukrainian American organizations, Rotary International and other civic groups.

Following a full day of golf, the players gathered for an awards banquet that included a raffle, door prizes and surprise presentations. Among the guests of honor at the banquet were State Sen. James Alesi, who announced that he had secured $10,000 for the Sister Cities Initiative in Poltava.

Also present was Alex Shoumatoff, a frequent contributor to the magazines Vanity Fair and Golf Digest who drove from Montreal to join the festivities. Mr. Shoumatoff told the crowd of CCRF supporters that he feels a special kinship with the Poltava region, as his great grandfather, Gen, Nikolai Avinoff, once owned a large estate that straddled the villages of Novy Sanzhar and Shedeyevo. A great patron of the arts, Mr. Avinoff reportedly bought from Count Karl Briulov the painting that helped to win the freedom of a talented young serf Taras Shevchenko. Mr. Avinoff also gave refuge to Shevchenko after he returned from exile and it was on the Avinoff estate that Shevchenko is said to have written his brooding revolutionary poem, "Dumy Moyi."

Tournament organizer Roman Lesiv thanked all the sponsors and participants who helped to make the event such a success, including co-organizers John Adamczuk and Bohdan Skrobach, and local businesswoman Lesia Telega, whose firm Monroe Graphics designed and printed the promotional poster for the event.

At the conclusion, Mr. Lesiv congratulated the winning team of four golfers led by Jerry Randisi, who finished the challenging course with a low score of 65. Other members of Mr. Randisi's team were Clark Cogan, Barry Deane and Jim McKeegan.

A lively raffle followed with many sought-after prizes. Among the most coveted items was an official NFL football donated by Erik Matkiwsky that was signed by several star quarterbacks, including future Hall of Famers Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Boomer Esiaison and Jeff Hofstettler.

Irondequoit Town Clerk Lydia Dzus presented CCRF with a check for $700 as a first installment from the Sister Cities Initiative toward the medical relief effort in Poltava. The president of CCRF's Rochester Chapter, Myron Babiuk, thanked the sponsors and participants for their support of the Poltava Maternity Hospital, and Alex Kuzma, representing CCRF's national organization, echoed Mr. Babiuk's sentiments.

Speaking on behalf of CCRF's co-founders, Dr. and Mrs. Zenon Matkiwsky, Mr. Kuzma noted that the partnership between the relief fund and the Irondequoit Sister Cities Initiative possesses a great potential to reduce the infant mortality rate at the Poltava Maternity Hospital. Having just returned from Ukraine two weeks earlier, Mr. Kuzma reported that medical technology and training provided by CCRF and co-sponsored by similar grassroots partnerships had reduced in half the infant mortality rate in CCRF's partner hospitals in Lutsk and Dnipropetrovsk.

To learn more about the Poltava-Irondequoit Sister Cities Project or other programs in the Rochester area, contact Tamara Denysenko, (716) 544-9727, or Myron Babiuk, (716) 872-4263, or the CCRF's Connecticut office, (203) 407-0261. To make a tax-deductible contribution to support the neonatal unit at the Poltava Maternity Hospital, make checks payable to CCRF and send to 272 Old Short Hills Road, Short Hills, NJ 07078; please note "Poltava Project" on the check.

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