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Seven-year-old Sofia Berezny of Whippany, front left, and seven-year-old Andrew Grach of Denville, front right, dry off a car at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13. In the back collecting donations is 16-year-old Julia Lucid of Denville.
Lubov Brezny of Whippany, right, sells a pierogi to Mikhail Kolinchak of Morristown at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13.
Olga Paryn of Parsippany, left, sells pierogis to George Yurkewych of East Hanover at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13.
Volunteers at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey sell handmade knick knacks during a car wash Saturday, Aug. 13. From left are Lubov Brezny of Whippany, Roksolana Vaskul of Florham Park and Maryana Lane of Morristown.
Volunteers at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey sell handmade knick knacks during a car wash Saturday, Aug. 13. In the back row from left are Lubov Berezny of Whippany, Yulia Fatula of Denville, one-year-old Michael Fatula of Denville and Iryna Grach of Denville. In the front row from left are seven-year-old Sofia Berezny of Whippany, seven-year-old Andrew Grach of Denville and seven-year-old Sofia Sarakhman of Whippany.
Ken Schwartz of Morris Plains eats pierogi after getting his car washed at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13.
Ostap Fatula of Denville rinses off a car at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13.
Olga Maryn of Parsippany, right, prepares a plate of pierogi for 16-year-old Julia Lucid of Denville, left, at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13.
Volunteers cook pierogis at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13. At left is Lenia Diaczuk of Boonton, and at right is Carol Sokol of Montville.
Seven-year-old Sofia Berezny of Whippany, front left, and seven-year-old Andrew Grach of Denville, front right, dry off a car at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13. In the back collecting donations is 16-year-old Julia Lucid of Denville.
Lubov Brezny of Whippany, right, sells a pierogi to Mikhail Kolinchak of Morristown at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13.
Olga Paryn of Parsippany, left, sells pierogis to George Yurkewych of East Hanover at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13.
Volunteers at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey sell handmade knick knacks during a car wash Saturday, Aug. 13. From left are Lubov Brezny of Whippany, Roksolana Vaskul of Florham Park and Maryana Lane of Morristown.
Volunteers at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey sell handmade knick knacks during a car wash Saturday, Aug. 13. In the back row from left are Lubov Berezny of Whippany, Yulia Fatula of Denville, one-year-old Michael Fatula of Denville and Iryna Grach of Denville. In the front row from left are seven-year-old Sofia Berezny of Whippany, seven-year-old Andrew Grach of Denville and seven-year-old Sofia Sarakhman of Whippany.
Ken Schwartz of Morris Plains eats pierogi after getting his car washed at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13.
Ostap Fatula of Denville rinses off a car at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13.
Olga Maryn of Parsippany, right, prepares a plate of pierogi for 16-year-old Julia Lucid of Denville, left, at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13.
Volunteers cook pierogis at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey Saturday, Aug. 13. At left is Lenia Diaczuk of Boonton, and at right is Carol Sokol of Montville.
HANOVER TWP. – Members of the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey (UACC) washed dozens of cars and sold knick knacks and pierogi to raise money for medical supplies to the Ukrainian military as well as baby items such as formula and diapers Saturday, Aug. 13.
Money will go to shipping costs for the items which include headphones for soldiers to protect their ears from the sounds of bombings, according to UACC member and event organizer Yulia Fatula of Denville.
“This is one of the major goals for today’s car wash to raise funds for this and some humanitarian help for some areas in which we know they need it,” Fatula said.
A car wash came with a glass of homemade lemonade, and volunteers sold pierogi made in the cultural center’s kitchen along with blue and yellow keychains, bracelets, magnets and other items made by members.
Among those selling these items was Whippany resident Lubov Brezny who said members gather at the cultural center and buy supplies and get together to make stuff.
“I came here to support the Ukrainian community and help out in the way we always do with volunteering, helping to sell stuff that our kids make, and we make some little things to donate to Ukrainian children and Ukrainian people in need,” Brezny said.
East Hanover resident George Yurkewych, a bartender at the Social Club bar in the UACC, got his car washed at the event and said he couldn’t wait to eat the pierogi he bought for dinner.
Yurkewych said the kids were great and put in a lot of soap, water and hard work.
“So far, my cousin’s family in western Ukraine outside of Lviv is okay, but you never know,” Yurkewych said. “I mean, the devil Putin can bomb any city, any facility, anything any time he wants. You’re kind of living under danger a little bit, but hopefully we’ll end this soon.”
Among the medical equipment the car wash will help help pay for is the renovation of a school bus donated to the cultural center about three or four weeks ago; this bus will be filled with medical supplies so it can be a moving hospital to go to the front lines, according to UACC director Roksolana Vaskul of Florham Park.
Volunteers have already taken the seats out of the bus, and the plan is to load it with supplies including monitors, ultrasounds, IVs and anesthesia machines; sometimes, amputations are performed on the front lines in Ukraine without anesthesia, Vaskul said.
She said that when she came to the UACC Saturday morning and looked at the sky, she thought of how nice and peaceful the blue sky looked, and she thought about how people in Ukraine can’t enjoy the nice sky as they have to think about what’s going to come on their heads from the sky.
“We know that the war is still raging in Ukraine,” Vaskul said. “You don’t see much of it on the news, but it’s the same war for us as it was before.”
So far, the UACC has donated about 15 pickup trucks, three ambulances and 18 containers of goods, Vaskul said.
“And we’re going to keep going because it’s needed,” she said. “Ukraine needs us, and the genocide of Ukrainian people is happening today. They’re killing children; they’re destroying schools, teachers, museums, culture, and we cannot watch this and not do anything about it. And I hope the world is going to help us.”
Vaskul also said she has two nieces living with her, one 11-year-old and one 14-year-old, and they’ll be staying with her for some time because schools in Ukraine aren’t opening out of safety since Russians are bombing them.
Vaskul’s sister, the girls’ mother, was with her but went back to Ukraine as she works as a doctor.
Vaskul said Ukrainians are blessed to feel overwhelming support from the American community.
“It’s so important for us to know that they understand our pain, that they’re with us, that they understand the value of democracy and the value of humanity,” she said.
Contact Brett Friedensohn at brettf@newjerseyhills.com.
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