Ridgefield Group's Ukraine Relief Efforts Soldier On After Big Event

RIDGEFIELD, CT — Earlier this month, Ridgefield Responds: Hope for Ukraine screened the film "A Rising Fury" at the Ridgefield Playhouse, and hosted a panel discussion that included Ambassador William Taylor. Although it managed to pack the Playhouse, the group's work for the displaced people of Ukraine is far from done.

"It's not like they're going to go back in six months," said Annetta Hewko, the group's chairwoman.

And it's not like everyone whose home was destroyed in the war is even looking for a way out.

"A lot of these 8 million people who are displaced, have no desire to leave or don't have the means or ability to leave," Hewko told Patch.

Economic forces may prevent families from moving into the more stable western areas of the country, Hewko said. Others have handicaps or disabilities which make it impossible to exit the war zone.

"The stories are heart-wrenching, what these people are going through, and have gone through," Hewko said.

The group works directly with the Rotary Club Lviv-Leopolis in Ukraine to get funds and supplies directly to where they are needed most. In addition to providing medical, frontline and humanitarian aid for refugees, funds raised by the group go toward creating meager housing options who can't travel far.

The communal living arrangements are doled out at just a little over 200 square feet per family, Hewko said. "Which is usually for four to six people, because it's usually multigenerational, and then they have a communal kitchen, communal bathrooms and showers. But they're safe. What they say, over and over again, is 'it's clean. It's consistent, and it's safe.'"

For Ridgefield resident Hewko, the question "Why Ukraine?" is an easy one. Both of her parents came from the country, and she lived and worked there right after the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 90s. She still has friends and family in Ukraine, and that direct connection has fueled much of the activism.

"But the thing that's very impressive is we have a lot of people that work with us, and help us who have no connection to Ukraine, other than compassion," Hewko told Patch. "And they see the horrors. They see the valiant, brave efforts of the Ukrainian people. And they want to help."

Ridgefield Responds is a townwide umbrella effort to support disaster relief locally and abroad, formed after Hurricane Katrina under the auspices of the 501(c)(3) Friends of Ridgefield Community Programs. The focus currently is Ukraine. Donations may be made online.