SAUGUS — A Saugus couple collected food, formula, medical supplies and clothes to be distributed to Ukrainian refugees in a few weeks.
Svetlana Sevkovich, who came here from Russia 19 years ago, and her husband, Dmitry, who is originally from Belarus and who has lived here for 17 years, heard about a fundraiser for Ukrainian refugee orphans from a Facebook post by Jookender Community Initiatives. The Framingham-based nonprofit unites individuals from Ukraine, Russia and other ex-Soviet countries in one community, said Borislava Sardak, the organization’s board chair.
“I first saw my best friend share a Facebook post about the fundraiser,” said Sevkovich.
She said that she and her husband felt so strongly about the war that they immediately decided to volunteer. The Sevkovichs asked their colleagues and friends to help them gather items for children in Uzhgorod, a city in western Ukraine. All in all, Jookender Community Initiatives sent a 3,459-pound parcel to Uzhgorod three weeks ago, and now it has already reached the refugee orphans.
After that, the Sevkovichs wanted to further help the children in Ukraine, so when they heard that Jookender organized another fundraiser — this time for women and children in Chernivtsi, another town in western Ukraine, the family wanted to join again.
“I couldn’t ask the same people who already helped us once,” said Sevkovich. They explored how else they could fundraise, and finally they decided to ask their neighbors.
“Because who else, if not our neighbors,” said Sevkovich. “All the more so since we have a great community here.”
Sevkovich made several entries in Saugus groups on Facebook and on Nextdoor. There were more than 50 people from the community who donated items.
“We didn’t count them, as we didn’t expect so many people to show up,” said Sevkovich.
She said there was even a car that was driving by and stopped and when they found out it was a fundraising effort for Ukraine, they asked whether they could help.
“We desperately needed more medications, and I gave them a list of what we needed, and in half an hour they came back with two full bags,” said Sevkovich.
They spent a night packing the boxes and brought them to Jookender. That time, the nonprofit sent 33 boxes to Chernivtsi, 20 to Uzhgorod, and two to a Ukrainian refugee family in Poland. In a few weeks, the children and their mothers in Ukraine will get their food, formula, medicine and clothing.
The best part of this fundraiser was that the people who participated were aware of where the items were going.
“My friends from Kyiv advised me on a charity organization that helped the orphanages in Ukraine,” said Sardak. She then contacted the head of the nonprofit, and they gave her the exact list of what the kids in Uzhgorod needed most at that very moment.
Delivery is the most expensive part of the undertaking. “It’s about $160-$170 for a 66-pound box,” said Sardak. The nonprofit sends the donations through Ziggy’s Tours Travel Agency, and later on Ukrainian territory the donations are delivered by a transportation and logistics services company.
“We send it as half-humanitarian aid directly to the person we contacted,” said Sardak. “Because if it goes as humanitarian aid, it goes very slowly, and nobody really cares.”
Jookender Community Initiatives plans another fundraiser in May, when they will receive another exact list of what is needed most in Ukraine right that moment. For more information, visit https://www.jookender.org/waystogive/make-donation.html.
