Bohdan Kniahynyckyj and Vera Skop Kniahynyckyj stood among boxes neatly labeled ‘Medical Supplies’ in large black letters with accompanying Cyrillic handwritten on each box in a La Mesa storehouse.
“There is a large group here that we call new Ukrainians. Some don’t even speak Ukrainian as their first language, they speak Russian. Through this network, we were able to secure this warehouse and donations are being pooled here from all over,” Vera Skop Kniahynyckyj said.
People have donated from all over, she said, her blue eyes twinkling, with boxes being delivered from across the county.
In South San Diego county, donations came in through the Chula Vista Salvation Army, as well as through some churches.
It took less than two weeks for the Ukrainian community to rally, begin gathering those donations and formulate ways to ship supplies off to the country after Russia began a military invasion on Feb. 24.
The House of Ukraine, located in Balboa Park, has served as something of a hub for Ukrainian-Americans in San Diego , a convenient location to deliver donations while gathering in fellowship.
Throughout the week, volunteers have transported assorted donations from the cottage, wheeling out combat boots and bandage packs by the wagon. Gathered from different donation sites, the supplies are collated at a central building where La Mesa meets El Cajon.
“I have friends in cities with no bread yet in small villages, they have supplies because they are more self-sustaining. Many of the donations are headed for cities,” Vera Skop Kniahynyckyj said.
She urges people to check on current needs as posted on the House of Ukraine website before donating anything, primarily to support Ukrainians with items they truly need. The fight might take some time, she said, but they are determined to continue shipping items to Ukraine as long as necessary.
“We’re going to do this for as long as it takes,” Vera Skop Kniahynyckyj said.
Bohdan Kniahynyckyj said Ukraine is not backing down.
“When Stalin was in power, there was everyday execution in the form of death by famine and he sentenced the intelligentsia to prison or execution,” Bohdan Kniahynyckyj said, a tactic that must not unfold again.
There was no freedom of religion, no freedom of press or speech and they enforced laws in Ukraine that, well, their goal was to get Ukraine to be Russian,” Vera Skop Kniahynyckyj said.
Among Vera Skop Kniahynyckyj’s requests: blood coagulants and prayers.
“Please, keep Ukraine in your prayers, whoever you pray to,” Bohdan Kniahynyckyj said.
High school senior Victoria Mameshin stood in the sunlight outside the cottage on March 5, nine days after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
The 17 year old’s fingers tied blue and yellow ribbons, Ukraine’s national colors, to a tree outside the cottage, potentially drawing in financial donations from the throng of people spending their Saturday at Balboa Park.
Gesturing to her father, Igor Mameshin, Victoria said her family is Ukrainian but split between countries. She lives with her father here in San Diego county, but her aunt lives in Hungary. Her grandmother, gazing on from a few feet away, typically divides her time between the two countries, an international human bridge between family.
“There is such an outpouring of support because they’re fighting for all of us. We could just give in to Russia and Putin, it would be easier but instead they are fighting for the world, for peace and freedom. They kissed their kids and wives goodbye and went to fight back. Really, they’re doing it for the world,” Mameshin said.
A full list of donation needs can be found at houseofukraine.org and are being accepted at the Salvation Army donation site at 648 3rd Ave. in Chula Vista.
