Ukrainian scouts make first aid kits to send to troops battling the Russians

Ukrainian scouts make first aid kits to send to troops battling the Russians
While teens learned Ukrainian dance at St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, volunteers down the hall tried to help troops thousands of miles away.

“I think it’s wonderful since we’re so far from Ukraine,” said Olha Kalivoshko.

“We can’t help there, but in this little way we can hopefully help the soldiers,” echoed Adrianna Lisowsky.

“Plast” is a group of Ukrainian boys and scouts around the country. Parents helped out, even college students home for spring break, the Parma group making more than 3,000 kits in three weeks.

“It’s really inspiring because it shows that no matter what age, you can take part in your community and do something great and change the world a little bit at a time,” said volunteer Adriana Kalivoshko, a freshman at Padua Franciscan High School.

A couple dozen volunteers jammed into a small room in the Astrodome behind St. Josaphat and gathered around a table, creating an assembly line that made 640 first aid kits Tuesday night alone.

The kits included surgical and pads, bandages, gauze, rubber gloves, Tylenol, and other medical supplies. They vacuum packed the bags and sent them, not only helping the troops in Ukraine, but helping Ukrainian-Americans in Parma.

“It’s comforting to know that you have a really good community you can go to to talk to and they’ll support you the same as you support them,” said Lydia Lisowsky, a graduate student at Kent State University.

“It’s so important because it involves the entire Ukrainian scout community, from the little to the eldest ones, we are all one big team and we all do our best to help the Ukrainian fighters,” said Olha.

“It’s gut-wrenching what is happening there and this is a great way for us to pitch in,” said Dan Lisowsky.

Plast has a wish list on Amazon for the first aid kits.