Page 4 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022 Helping the people of Ukraine A Russian-born woman and her husband living in Saugus organize a weekend donation drive to send desperately-needed supplies to a city in the war-torn country under Russian invasion By Mark E. Vogler Sometime within the next few weeks, a shipment of clothing, children’s toys, medication, school supplies and other crucial provisions gathered in a Cliftondale neighborhood will reach needy, but very grateful people of Chernovtsy — a city in the southwestern part of war-torn Ukraine. “Thirty-one boxes are already in transit,” Lana Sevkovich said of the donation drive she organized last Saturday (April 2) with her husband, Dmitry, who immigrated from the Republic of Belarus. The Boston Marathon won’t be welcoming any runners from Russia and Belarus this year because of the ongoing atrocities inflicted by Russia on the Ukrainian civilians — many of them innocent women and children — with the blessing of Belarus. But it was a blend of Belarusian and Russian love — transplanted in Saugus that made this small town humanitarian aid possible. “I started to think that I might hide the fact that I’m from Russia. And I started hearing people say that all Russians are bad,” said Lana, who came to the U. S. nearly two decades ago. “But the Russian people didn’t start this war. There’s just one evil man sitting in the Russian government who’s responsible,” she said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Russian government is saying that 83 percent of their people support the war in Ukraine. I don’t believe it. People in Russia are too scared and terrified to talk about it if they do. In a totalitarian country like Russia, you can’t ask people whether they oppose the war. When I talked to my mom, she asked me not to talk about it over the phone. Everybody is afraid.” But Lana and Dmitry, who became U. S. citizens several years ago and bought their first American house on Baker Street in Saugus in 2017, did their part to spread the love for the people of Ukraine. They reached out to the public using Facebook and put a cardboard poster outside their house explaining the drive with cardboard boxes to collect the donations. “We were overjoyed by the support and love we received,’’ Dmitry said. “There were about 50 to 70 people who showed up. It was amazing,” he said. Lana was visibly moved by the support shown by people in her neighborhood and the folks who responded to the Facebook announcement or by word of mouth. “Neighbors who came to our drive were very patiently waiting for their turn in line, they didn’t mind waiting while we were accepting other people’s donations,” Lana said. “There were only three of us: my husband Dmitry, myself and our good friend Diana Gluhova. Diana is also from Belarus and her heart is also aching for Ukraine. “She’s been volunteering for Jookender with us as well. At one point one of the neighbors, Judy Wien who stopped by to bring donations offered her help with sorting clothes. All the people were so kind, so caring and willing to help. It was an amazing day!” she said. Jookender is a community organization based in Framingham that serves Russian speaking Jewish families in the Greater Boston area. Dmitry and Lana, though not members of Jookender, have worked with the group in recent weeks on a volunteer basis to help send relief packages to the people of Ukraine. Last Saturday, the Sevkovichs decided to do their own event in Saugus “We plan on doing another drive in Saugus in the future,” Lana said. “Our neighbors were so thankful. They were hoping for someone to organize a drive. People just wanted to help. There’s a defi nite need for people to participate in the fund-raising. And some people said they still feel a connection to Ukraine and they want us to keep them posted on the next drive.” There were plenty of “feel good” stories that the couple wanted to share about the day. “One of the fi rst people who showed up was a lady who is from Ukraine and her husband is from the area,” Dmtry said. “This lady, along with all of the goods she brought, also had a pack of printed cards which said ‘Glory to Ukraine!’ She put those cards in the pockets of the clothes she donated — to show support to the people who received them,” he said. Sevkovich’s four-and-a-halfyear-old daughter helped out during the day. But she wanted to do much more — to give away her princess dresses to Ukraine children. “I told her as soon as the war is over; she can send her princess dresses. We’ll ship them so some Ukraine girls can celebrate victory and look pretty,” Lana said. “It was an incredible day. People who could not come to the drive ordered items on Amazon and shipped them to our house directly,” she said. Selectman Corinne Riley, who lives in the neighborhood, was impressed by Dmitry and Lana’s dedication to the donation drive. She said it also brought the global event closer to home for Saugus residents and others in surrounding communities who turned out., “Watching the news regarding the atrocities happening in Ukraine, it is unimaginable what those people are dealing with,” Riley said. “To have heard that Dmitry and Lana were having this drive to help those over in Ukraine, you feel we can try to help in any way possible to give to those women and children who have lost everything,” she said. “I was so moved by them both; I told Lana that the world needs more people like them and the groups that are involved with getting those supplies to the Ukrainians. I pray this ends soon.” The biggest donation came from a Lynn woman who gave $ 100 in cash, according to Dmitry. Overall, the drive collected $ 533 in cash. The Saugus couple has become a fabric of Saugus and the Greater Boston Community. Lana, 40, is a senior performance analyst at Fidelity Investment of Boston, and works remotely from home. She got an Associate’s degree from Bunker Hill College and earned her bachelor’s degree in Finance from UMass-Boston and MBA in Business Administration from Babson College. Dmitry is a senior software developer at Cargurus. He received his Associate’s Degree from Bunker Hill Community College and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from UMass-Boston. For more information about Jookender and how you can volunteer to help the Ukraine people, go to https:// www.jookender.org/waystogive/make-donation. html?fbclid=IwAR3Yc-am2ADYmrpV-kWDj4nqnraH3sZ1yh7yDF0Kw0liz1Z_zbIi3Ajo0a4.
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