www.lifenets.org
Contact: Victor Kubik (LifeNets), 317-216-0802, kubik@lifenets.org
Michael Snyder (The MEK Group), 317-805-4870, msnyder@themekgroup.com
Indy volunteers set to ship 20 tons of medical, support material
to Chernobyl facility for children with disabilities in the Ukraine
INDIANAPOLIS—“We cannot forget these kids,” said Victor Kubik, executive director of LifeNets International, about why LifeNets is preparing a 20-ton shipment of donated medical equipment and supplies, and development aids for Ukrainian children with disabilities. Collection of equipment donations and materials for the shipment, scheduled to leave Indianapolis April 18 for the Chernobyl area, has been going on over the past year. Final loading at the Peine Engineering facility here will begin this Friday, April 15.
Service organizations such as Rotary International, churches, and individuals across the Midwest have been collecting beds, cribs, mattresses, medical equipment, wheelchairs and other needed items to support the Revival Centre for Rehabilitation of Disabled Children. The Centre, located in Chernihev, Ukraine (a short distance from the now-closed Soviet reactor that exploded), was originally founded to serve children and young adults suffering short- and long-term effects from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
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“As time has passed, people can forget that there exist many, many children who still suffer from physical and mental disorders related to the disaster even more than a decade later,” explained Kubik, who founded LifeNets International in Indianapolis after a personal visit to the area in the mid-1990s.
Today LifeNets has expanded its mission to help people with needs all over the globe, with projects underway on every inhabited continent. Rather than duplicate relief efforts, LifeNets seeks and forges partnerships with many other national and international humanitarian organizations to maximize aid programs. The result has been the development of successful projects in Asia, African, Latin America and the United States. In addition to the current project to support the Ukrainian “Revival” facility, LifeNets recently sponsored a project to directly aid fishermen in Sri Lanka who suffered great losses from the 2004 tsunami disaster.
Despite its global growth in successful humanitarian efforts, LifeNets never forgets the children of Chernobyl. “Dr. Vasily Pasechnik, the founder of the Revival Centre, set the example of service for us when he risked imprisonment for helping children and adult victims of the Chernobyl disaster immediately after the blast and before the then-Soviet authorities would even acknowledge that a terrible disaster had taken place,” Kubik said. Dr. Pasechnik, fondly called “Dr. P” by staff and residents, secured an old Soviet nursery in Chernihev when he saw many children going untreated for long-term effects after the disaster.
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Funded and supplied in large measure by LifeNets and other humanitarian organizations, the Revival Centre has been formally recognized by the Ukrainian government and other service organizations for its work with children.
Additional donations for the final shipment are welcome, according to Kubik. “We especially need simple items like Pamper diapers and other hygiene-related products,” said Kubik. Financial donations are also welcome, and virtually all funds donated for the Chernobyl effort are sent directly to the Ukraine. Kubik, whose full-time job is as a pastor with the United Church of God, donates his services without fee as executive director. All LifeNets volunteers donate their services free of charge.
Persons or organizations wishing to donate or help with the April humanitarian shipment can contact LifeNets at 317-216-0802 or by e-mail: Kubik@lifenets.org. Final loading at Peine Engineering will begin at mid-day on Friday, April 15, and the 20-ton container will be prepared for final shipping on Sunday, April 17. Additional information and photos from the Chernobyl Revival Centre can be found at www.lifenets.org.
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About LifeNets LifeNets International is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) that develops programs offering practical assistance that promote the well being and self sufficiency of needy people throughout the world and, where possible, encourages them to pass on their gift. Through volunteer help we have helped thousands of people in Ukraine, the Baltics, Malawi, Zambia, Philippines, Guatemala, El Salvador, Brazil and more. For more information, please visit www.lifenets.org.