Hinckley rallies to aid the people of Ukraine

by Chris Studor

“Cities in the Ukraine are being bombarded into nothing but piles of bricks,” Hinckley resident Oleg Stelmakh told the Hinckley Record. “The situation in the Ukraine is a huge humanitarian crisis. I am grateful to the people of Hinckley who donated a 20-foot truck full of clothing, food and necessities to be sent over.”

Stelmakh’s family is from the Ukrainian town of Lviv, and like most Ukrainians here in the United States, he is very worried about his family. On March 5, Stelmakh, joined by his brother-in-law Bill Putko and friend Viktor Martynyuk, teamed up to host a drive for food, clothing and necessities at Hinckley Township Hall.

Stelmakh reached out to Trustee Monique Ascherl to see if the drive could be held at the Hinckley Township administration building and she immediately went to work contacting fellow trustees who granted their approval.

Stelmakh and his team of volunteers is working through two Ukrainian Churches, the Church of Evangelic Faith of Parma and the Evangelical Faith Church in North Royalton.

“Through donations by the people of Hinckley and others in neighboring communities, we were able to fill many truck loads of goods,” said Stelmakh. “The trucks will go first to New Jersey, then to Poland and then to my hometown of Lviv.”

Stelmakh said it becomes more difficult for the people of Ukraine to leave the country every day. Whereas the drive from the capital city of Kyiv to the Polish border used to take 7-8 hours, it currently takes four to five days.

“It is actually easier to walk across the border than to try and take a vehicle across,” he said. “People are actually abandoning their cars near the border and walking to the border because it is quicker.”

Ascherl, who participated in the Hinckley collection herself, calls Stelmakh “a remarkable guy.”

“The situation in Ukraine is heartbreaking and infuriating and we are all trying to do whatever we can to help,” she said. “Just a picture of how much interest there is in helping the people of Ukraine is my own personal website where I posted the drive, it drew 3,300 views. I also posted it on the Highland Hornets Moms site and Hinckley Township Community and Hinckley Ohio Discuss It websites. The response of the people of Hinckley [has been] heartwarming.”

Ascherl said as she was pulling items of clothing from her closet to donate, her young son, Michael, asked what she was doing.

“I sat down and explained what was going on and how many Ukrainian people had to get up in the middle of the night and leave with nothing but the clothing on their backs,” Ascherl said. “I gathered up blankets and towels and clothing. These people need everything and, if the need continues, we could host the drive again.”

Those interested in helping the people of Ukraine with donations of non-perishable food, clothing, blankets and towels, baby items and cash donations are being directed to the website, BrookofHope.com, where donation information and photos from previous collections are available. ∞