Common Man For Ukraine Delivers Food, Solar Lanterns And Hope In 13th Mission

By Nancy West, InDepth NH

Children line up at Common Man for Ukraine delivery in the Ukraine. Courtesy photo

New Hampshire's Common Man for Ukraine volunteers are in the middle of their 13th mission bringing food - and hope - to war-torn Ukraine since the bombs started dropping three years ago.

During this 11-day trip, they are delivering food and other necessities to the front lines and 10 of Ukraine’s most vulnerable villages and child safe houses. The mission also funds a three-week camp every month for Ukrainian children to enjoy a brief respite in Poland from the war, a project that may expand to war-weary mothers with a pilot program starting next week.

The letters the children are encouraged to write to President Volodymyr Zelensky at the three-week retreats have become the heart of a new musical play "Voices from Ukraine: Stories of War and Hope" that will soon be shown in New England, with Ukrainian teenage actors starring in the show.

The letters from the children are hard to read, but Common Man for Ukraine keeps a strong focus on helping children and the elderly. And the letters seem especially important now with President Trump having invited Russian President Putin to Alaska on Friday. President Zelensky is reportedly meeting with Trump at the White House on Monday.

One Letter

"Good day, Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
"My name is Oleh, and I am from the city of Poltava. My dad went missing several years ago, and later, we found out that he died in 2017. That same year, my sister was born.

"I dream that my mother will return home because she is now in the military and currently in hot spots. I also love to read. Now I am about to go to Poland to a camp. Many of my friends and relatives are serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

"I wish you health, happiness, peace, and victory.
"Glory to Ukraine!
"Signed, Oleh."

The Common Man for Ukraine Mission

Susan Mathison and Lisa Mure spoke to InDepthNH.org via Zoom Saturday to share their volunteer experiences with Common Man for Ukraine, which they co-founded with Steve Rand and Common Man restaurant owner Alex Ray. They are the hands-on backbone of the operation.

This mission started in Boston on Aug. 8, first traveling to Zakopane, Poland, where their trauma counseling retreat hosts 30 to 35 children each month for children whose fathers have been killed in the war. "For three weeks those kids have peace and quiet evenings, no air raid sirens. They relax with their peers, other children whose fathers have been killed in the war," Mathison said.

The children get individual and group trauma counseling, art therapy, physical therapy, drama; they hike and swim and are just kids again for three weeks, she said.

The group met with kids, got to know them and reinforced their relationships with the professionals there - the doctor, child psychologist and Ukrainian teachers who care for the children.

Then the group took off for the border of Ukraine and drove cross country to the eastern front near Zaporizhzhia.

"There we visited 10 villages near the front lines and delivered 46,000 pounds of food to children primarily, and elderly citizens in the front line villages," Mathison said.

At left and below, Helping children is a focus of Common Man for Ukraine. These photos were taken in Zaporizhia Oblast. Specific village names are withheld due to security concerns.

Lisa Mure said on Saturday they were in Vinnytsia where they met with 11 mothers of children who had been able to attend the three-week retreat in Poland. The mothers brought their children with them.

"We greeted them. We thanked them for coming. We thanked them for trusting us with their children. We gave them treats and solar lanterns to the children. We gave them hand-knit dolls from the Laconia Community Church," Mure said.

Mure said they were thrilled to hear from mothers the impact the retreat has had on their children ranging from ages 8 to 12. There is a pilot retreat for 12 mothers starting next week in Zakopane, Poland.

"The retreat reset them," Mure said of the children. "They were depressed, weren't very active at home. They weren’t very organized, classic signs of children processing trauma and after the retreat they came home with more energy. They came home more active, more organized and with a sense of joy," the mothers told Mure.

"They all said that positive impact continues to this day and the children continue to stay in touch with kids they met at the retreat who are going through the same trauma of losing a father. It was really heartwarming to hear the mothers speak about that in their own words," Mure said.

Mathison said: "Some of the examples will just break your heart. One mother told a story about a boy whose father had died six months earlier.... he refused to go to the gravesite." His mother was concerned about his mental health since he refused to face what had happened.

That was before he went to the retreat.

"She said when he got home, he said, 'Mom I want to go to the gravesite. I want to see Dad.' She was so moved and happy he was able to open up," Mathison said.

In Ukraine the graves of fallen soldiers are elaborate sites - headstones, photographs, fresh flowers, a flag of Ukraine flapping in the breeze with treats of food, favorite candies and fresh pastries brought to the gravesite every few days as shrines to the fallen.

"The children reset their brain. They find the time to allow themselves to be joyful (at the retreat.) They allow themselves to be joyful again. Even though Ukraine is still at war and their dad is still dead, they have some new tools and understanding of life and joy and tragedy and family and that they can move forward," Mathison said.

Mure said while talking with one 15-year-old girl, she learned the girl was sad for her little sister.

She told Mure that school was nonexistent for her younger sister who was 7 when the invasion happened and now at age 10 "her little sister doesn’t even know what school is."

Common Man for Ukraine volunteers for this mission from left: Steve Rand, Lisa Mure, Alex Ray, Carmen Kruse, Susan Mathison, George Bald, Alice Chun, a Polish Rotary volunteer, and Ryszard Luczyn are pictured in a sunflower garden. Specific villages aren't identified for safety reasons.

Education

Mathison said schooling for Ukrainian children is intermittent at best. Children listen to air raid sirens every day. They hear bombings and watch drones overhead. "This is a part of their daily lives," Mathison said.

She said they were eight miles from the front lines and visited 35 villages and eight schools, one of which had built a state-of-the-art school underground.

But because it could only take 200 children at a time, the children had to go to school every other day to make room for everyone.

"A whole generation of students is three years behind," Mathison said.

Trump/Putin Meeting

Mure said she was asked what the local feeling was before the meeting between President Trump and Russian President Putin Friday. "When it came up in conversations, Ukrainians said, ‘it's not worth talking about. We’re at war. We don’t have time to talk about some conversations that are going to be over in Alaska. We're just busy taking care of our country and our children,'" Mure said.

"So the day after the meeting, it was kind of anti-climactic. Nobody even brought it up because it was what they expected - that nothing was going to come of it," Mure said.

Mathison said Ukrainians are "not interested in a land swap. They are interested in retaining the original Ukrainian borders and when the conversation turned to land swap, that's a non-starter for them. They're interested in retaining their territory, their history, their future, their culture, their independence."

Impact

Common Man for Ukraine has delivered over 4 million pounds of food over last three years and many solar lanterns to children.

Mathison said none of it could happen without the generosity of people. They've raised over $4 million, including the $1 million match donation from Alex Ray that started the project. Donations to Common Man for Ukraine can be made here.

It's not just money and food. A big hit has been thousands of Beanie Babies. They may no longer be trendy for American children, but...

"To a kid who's living with all his belongings in a paper bag or plastic bag and moving from place to place to be safe, to reach into a bag and pick out a bear or a moose or a lady bug - all her own - is just miraculous," Mathison said.

"Lisa Mure and Steve Rand and Alex Ray and I are all volunteers," Mathison said. They pay their own travel and expenses, she said. The truck drivers who deliver the goods across the country are also all volunteers, mostly local Rotary Club members who risk their lives to help out. It couldn't happen without them and the many donors.

"We couldn't do this work without our donors," Mathison said.

"Alex gave the leadership donation of $1 million" and they have surpassed the match and they just keep going.

"We knew they needed us to continue this work," Mathison said.

Mathison hopes people in New Hampshire and across the country think about the effects the war has on children who are missing out on school and living in fear every day who wonder, "Is this the day my house will be blown up? Is this the day Gramma will die from a missile attack?"

Above, one little Ukrainian girl plays with hand-knitted doll donated by the Laconia Community Church. Courtesy photo

Helping Ukraine has become important to many people in New Hampshire. Women in Mountonborough have sewn a large quilt with the colors of the Ukrainian flag to raffle off to do their part. Paula Tracy wrote their story for InDepthNH.org here.

George Bald, who retired as commisioner of the state Department of Resources and Economic Development and who remains active on several boards, including InDepthNH's, traveled with the volunteers for this latest mission. On Facebook, Bald wrote before he went: "A few years ago, I read a quote that went like this; 'Do not deny yourself the warm feeling of helping others.' So for my 75th birthday, I will be joining Alex Ray and his Common Man for Ukraine Team to travel to Ukraine to deliver over 30 tons of food and other critical supplies."

Voices from Ukraine: Stories of War and Hope

The musical play "Voices from Ukraine: Stories of War and Hope" will debut across New England, a production of nonprofits Common Man for Ukraine and Arts & Big Hearts. It is based on letters written by Ukrainian children.

It is performed by five Ukrainian teenage actors and the musical will show in York (Maine), Concord and Newbury (New Hampshire), and Burlington (Vermont), before wrapping up with dual performances in Newton and Boston, Mass. on Ukrainian Independence Day.

It's directed by Trish Lindberg, founder of Arts & Big Hearts.

“Two years ago, I was fortunate to be invited to work with the kids at the retreats for Ukrainian children in Poland – where each child wrote a moving letter to their country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, about their life and their soldier-father’s sacrifice,” Lindberg said. “Their words inspired this journey to share their stories in a way that connects and moves us all.”

Bringing to life these stories of Ukraine’s children of war are five young Ukrainian actors who also grew up in the war zone. Dmitry Pohorilovskyi, Bohdana Frantsishkevych, Taisiia Grygorova, Sofiia Kopytko, and Tetiana Yevstihnieieva will be making their American theater debuts with "Voices from Ukraine."

Mure said: “Now more than ever, Ukraine’s children need our help. We invite everyone who
believes in supporting the innocent to come to these performances, hear the children of
Ukraine’s words, and find ways to bring more light and goodness into the world.”
The tickets are free and donations requested.

More information and tickets can be obtained here: commonmanforukraine.org/events
Performance Dates and Locations:
AUGUST 20: St. George’s Episcopal Church in York, Maine at 7 p.m.
AUGUST 21: South Congregational Church UCC in Concord, New Hampshire at
7 p.m.
AUGUST 22: First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington in Burlington,
Vermont at 7 p.m.
AUGUST 23: John Hay Estate at the Fells in Newbury, New Hampshire at 4 p.m. (sold out)
AUGUST 24: Lasell University in Newton, Massachusetts at 3 p.m.
AUGUST 24: St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Boston, Massachusetts
at 7 p.m.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.