The donation to the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America Long Island Chapter will provide military protective gear and grade field dressings for frontline fighters in Ukraine.
Howard A. Van Wagner American Legion Post 962 in Locust Valley, N.Y., recently donated $6,000 to the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) Long Island Chapter to provide military protective gear and grade field dressings for frontline fighters in Ukraine. This donation included $1,000 from American Legion Auxiliary Unit 962.
“We’ve all been impressed with the fortitude and strength of the Ukrainian people and what they’re doing in an overwhelming situation, and we wanted to help in some way,” said Tony Bliss, Post 962 treasurer and past commander.
Unit 962 President Janice Deegan said that while the donation was “a lot of money for us because we are a very small (Auxiliary) unit,” they did it because “we feel that the (Ukrainian) people are courageous fighters and we want to help them as much as we can help them.”
Post 962 members unanimously decided to make the significant donation after learning more about the current conflict in Ukraine during a recent post meeting. They heard from post member Bohdan Kopystianskyj – who is of Ukrainian heritage and has family still living there that he is in contact with weekly – and from his friend Oleh Dekajlo, president of the UCCA Long Island Chapter.
Kopystianskyj said he was born along a road while his parents fled from Ukraine at the end of World War II. “I have been raised in a Ukrainian community my entire life on Long Island,” said Kopystianskyj, who served as an Airborne Ranger for Special Warfare in the 101st Airborne during the Vietnam War. “And I have continued with my support of Ukrainian independence. It’s always been a part of my life.”
Kopystianskyj’s wife is also from Ukraine and speaks with her family daily, as some have sought refuge in Poland. So when Post 962’s Legion Family showed their support for the Ukrainian people, Kopystianskyj was grateful.
“I’m very, very grateful and surprised they were so eager and willing to help. I’m grateful that there were so many people who felt a certain sense of obligation to help the Ukraine cause in trying to defend themselves from Putin.”
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