Our Club was delighted to have Mykhailo Bernatskyi and his mother Inna Teslenko visiting from Ukraine. Mykhailo just recently graduated from Lynn University and was gathering military supplies to take back to Ukraine where he was going to enlist in the military to help fight against the invasion from Russia. 
Inna (who said she didn’t speak much English) read a nice message to the members of the Club.
Club member Marina Kapulovska, who was born in Ukraine, welcomed the two visitors and assisted Inna read her heartfelt message.
Club President Julie Vianale then read a note from Rostyslav Lukach (“Rost”), Immediate Past President of the Rotary Club in Kyiv. She then stated that she was going to give $500 to go to Rotary District 2232 which covers all of Ukraine, to go along with the $2,500 the Club Board had previously agreed to donate. She then went around the room to see who else wanted to help Ukraine. Julie’s cash call was enthusiastically received, and the Club’s $2,500 pledge was raised to $6,300.
A wire transfer for $5,000 was sent to District 2232 on Thursday and Rost reported back to Julie that the funds had been received and would be a big help to their District. The Kiev Rotary District was grateful for this prompt and direct donation and asked that the balance be donated to the Rotary International Disaster Relief Fund, which has earmarked all donations during March to go to Ukraine relief.
These funds were received before RI was able to get their infrastructure going which was wonderful to provide ‘gap’ funding for immediate humanitarian needs.
Please see the attached presentation from the Rotary Club in Kiev/Kyiv. It’s wonderful to see the images before the war started. We all wish them the best and hope these visuals will return someday in the near future.
This was one of the most emotional experiences the Club had ever witnessed.