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Submitted Photo Pictured are Kirk Dornbush, Past President, Mountaintop Rotary Club of Highlands, Highlands Mayor Patrick Taylor, Michael Vavrek, President, Mountaintop Rotary Club of Highlands and Andy Walker, Secretary Elect, Mountaintop Rotary Club of Highlands.
Mountaintop Rotary of Highlands now has the backing of the town in their efforts to raise money for Ukraine relief after Highlands Mayor Patrick Taylor signed a proclamation declaring April as Ukrainian Financial Relief Month.
Mountaintop Rotary started its Ukraine campaign last week, already raising more than $25,000 and counting from members.
“Members of Mountaintop Rotary Club of Highlands felt the need to quickly respond to the crisis in Ukraine,” Mountaintop Rotary President-Elect Bill Kirkman said. “They donated generously, and the club matched their donations dollar for dollar. We believe the mayor’s support and proclamation will generate even greater support for those impacted by the crisis in Ukraine. Donation options identified by Mountaintop Rotary Club of Highlands include one of the top-rated charitable organizations in the world (Rotary Foundation Disaster Response Fund,) a Hungary Rotary club on the Ukrainian border as well as organizations addressing specific needs: ShelterBox for housing, Doctors without Borders for medical, and World Central Kitchen for food.”
Things in Ukraine are getting worse and worse as mass graves were discovered in Bucha. The local morgue in Bucha ran out of space as deaths mounted in March; to deal with all the bodies, a tractor was brought in to dig a mass grave in the grounds of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, its abbot, Andriy Galavin told CNN.
As of this weekend, Kyiv Regional Police and residents believed the remains of at least 150 people had been laid to rest in the grave, but the mayor of Bucha said the death toll could be as high as 300.
The devastation wrought in Bucha is just the tip of the iceberg, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Monday.
“In many villages of the liberated districts of the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions, the occupiers did things that the locals had not seen even during the Nazi occupation 80 years ago,” Zelensky said. “The occupiers will definitely bear responsibility for this.”
Taylor said they decided to sign the proclamation because they saw a tremendous need.
“We saw a tremendous need of people living in the towns and cities of Ukraine being displaced from their homes,” Taylor said. “As a mayor, I can’t imagine your city being destroyed and so many people being killed, their homes destroyed and infrastructure gone. I felt like we needed to step up and support the Ukraine people during this tragedy.”
With several people in the Highlands community stepping up to raise money for Ukraine, Taylor said he is not surprised at the resilience of the community.
“We have a great spirit of giving in this community,” Taylor said. “I’m really gratified to see the Rotary Clubs stepping forward to encourage people to support this program.”
Kirkman said the reason this issue is so important to him is because there are devastating consequences on civilians in Ukraine.
“The war in Ukraine is having devastating consequences on civilians including the loss of homes, livelihood, as well as family and friends,” Kirkman said. “Rotary members are people of action who generously support others. Gratefully people on the Plateau of Highlands-Cashiers are often very supportive of those in need. We believe together we can have an even greater impact. The mayor’s proclamation is a strong call to action to the Highlands community unifying our support for Ukraine and its people.”
- By Christopher Lugo