John Kark's mission: to help less fortunate children in Ukraine

by Taras Hunczak

CHATHAM, N.J. - He came to the United States as an orphan at the age of 18. Having experienced by himself the misfortunes of World War II, John Kark did not want to be adopted. Instead, he was willing to face the challenges of the new world all by himself and decided that his path to the future was with the Armed Forces of the United States. He was right.

While serving in Korea and Vietnam he rose through the military ranks as commander of military units, and back in the United States Col. Kark was entrusted with various important positions. Holding a Ph.D. in modern European history, Col. Kark taught and directed academic programs at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the Naval Postgraduate School in California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington and other institutions. When he retired, Col. Kark could proudly say that he served his country with dedication and distinction.

After he retired, Col. Kark, who lives in San Diego, dedicated himself to helping orphans in Ukraine. Toward that end he organized the Committee to Assist Ukrainian Orphans and Children Without Parents. With the support of the members of this committee, among whom are Eugenia Dallas from California, Irena Syrotiuk-Ochrymovych from New Jersey, George Zaluzney from Virginia and Yurii Aroniv from Ontario, Col. Kark raised sufficient funds to launch his first project, "Eyeglasses for Orphans of Ukraine."

Having identified 783 orphanages, which cared for 158,781 children, Col. Kark began a program providing for eye examinations for children. Upon completion of that stage of the project, he signed a contract with a factory in Izyum, near Kharkiv, which manufactures eyeglasses. Ultimately he purchased 20,387 pairs of eyeglasses which he distributed to the needy children. One can almost see the happy faces of these thousands of children who for the first time could see clearly.

Having completed the eyeglass project, Col. Kark, with the support of the executive committee, initiated his next project: "Scholarships for Students - Orphans in Ukraine." These scholarships are for children who grew up in orphanages and now are students at institutions of higher learning. With his typical dedication, Col. Kark has identified those students and has already awarded thousands of scholarships to them.

One should note that Col. Kark travels throughout Ukraine and, as in the case of the eyeglasses, personally distributes the scholarships. Even now he is in Ukraine doing exactly that - bringing happiness to less fortunate children.

One can only applaud the dedication and vision of Col. Kark and wish him continued success in his noble undertakings.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 18, 2003, No. 20, Vol. LXXI

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