WHIPPANY, N.J. – When I heard about the war in Ukraine and how so many people were dying, I was devastated. When I heard stories about children’s parents being sent off to fight in the war and being killed, my heart ached with pain for these children. I imagined how I would feel if I lost my parents…
These stories made me want to somehow reach out to these children and help them. I wanted to bring some hope and happiness into their lives.
As a member of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization, I decided to do a “Treta Proba” (eagle scout) project called “Child to Child” in December of 2014. I contacted an organization in Ukraine called Yellow-Blue Wings that provides aid and support to children whose parents are either fighting in the war or were killed in the war. I received the names of 53 children from the organization in Ukraine.
Plast cub scouts and their parents during an assembly at which they brought gifts for children in Ukraine.
Prior to our weekly meeting, I set up a Christmas tree with decorations that had the children’s ages and names on them. During a Plast assembly at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey in Whippany, I introduced my project to the children and parents of the of the Newark Plast branch’s cub scouts (“novaky” and “novachky”). I asked the parents and children to “adopt” a child for Christmas.
One of the children in Ukraine who received gifts from Plast families in New Jersey.
I wasn’t sure how the people would respond, but everybody was so supportive! Each family chose the name of a child from the Christmas tree. I received multiple phone calls and e-mails from the Plast parents asking me if all the children had been “adopted.” At the following week’s Plast meeting, each family brought a gift, such as clothes or toys, for the child they had picked. The novaky and novachky placed the gifts under the same Christmas tree. Some families even wrote letters to the children and sent their family photos.
Kalyna Leshchuk decorates a Christmas tree with the names and ages of children in Ukraine.
After I collected all the gifts from the families, several of the parents helped me pack the gifts into large boxes, which I then sent to Ukraine. I paid for the shipping costs myself with money I had collected over the past year.
The children in Ukraine received the gifts and several of the “adopted” children in Ukraine wrote back letters thanking the families who sent them gifts. Some families also sent pictures. I am very happy to know that I made a difference in these children’s lives. It feels good to see smiles on the children’s faces in the pictures.
I am very grateful to all the Plast families that supported my project, and I am proud to be a member of such a wonderful organization.
Kalyna Leshchuk, 16, is a member of the Newark, N.J. branch of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization. She is working toward attaining Plast’s eagle scout rank (that of “plastunka virlytsia”).