March 30 fundraiser to help Ashland support residents of its Ukrainian Sister City, Sviatohirsk

By Jim Nagel

I would like to give a brief explanation as to the inception of the Ashland-Sviatohirsk Aid Project, or ASAP for short, and our activities since we were formed.  

A few years ago Benjamin Stott, an Ashland resident, was so moved by the war in Ukraine that he felt compelled to go there and help. While he was there he came across a nongovernmental organization by the name of Ukraine Aid International (UAI), and he established a personal relationship with its president, Marshal Mayor, and continued a relationship with him and UAI.  

Upon returning to Ashland, Ben started giving lectures and showed slides that he had taken while he was in Ukraine. I attended one of those presentations and was motivated  to contact Ben to see how I could help. We met over coffee and we decided to see if other like-minded individuals would like to join us and thus we formed ASAP.

We then approached the city mayor and council to see if they would consider adopting a sister city in Ukraine.  Our group looked for a town that was somewhat similar in size, beauty and with a tourist attraction similar to what Ashland offer, and that is how we chose Sviatohirsk.  We then approached the Council with the proposal and they unanimously agreed to adopt Sviatohirsk as Ashland’s second sister city (after Guanajuato, Mexico).

Our next step was to become incorporated as a tax-exempt organization and we began raising funds. We received $5,000 in seed money from Don Jones and his Spartan Automotive group and planned our first fundraiser, which was a very successful.  

With money in our account we contacted Marshal and UAI and asked them if they could assist us. We learned that they were already working with other towns in the US that were doing the same thing as we were trying to do.

The other thing we realized was that we needed an intermediary when working in Ukraine. Knowing of the corruption going on there, we wanted to make sure that the money we raised went to the right place.  

We learned that UAI had members working in that area of Ukraine. They also had multiple contacts and were working with other cities like Easton, Connecticut, which also has a sister city in Ukraine.

We reached out to Easton and they had nothing but praise for UAI and we recently learned that UAI had won a prestigious award as one of the top NGOs in Ukraine.

We set up Zoom meetings with Mayor Rybolkin and his council in Sviatohirsk and asked them what they had  the most need of. Mayor Ryboalkin let us know that one of their needs was for a dump truck to clear up the rubbish that had accumulated throughout the city.  

He also mentioned the need for chain saws to cut wood to feed their pellet machines that are used to heat some of the city buildings.  We then contacted UAI, sent them the money we had raised and they were able to purchase the dump truck and chain saws and deliver them to Sviatohirsk.

This last summer Ben Stott returned to Sviatohirsk, where he was able to see the dump truck in action and recorded a video interview with Mayor Rybalkin.  We will show this film at our March 30^th fundraiser so people can see and hear the mayor thanking the people of Ashland for the truck and the support that we have given them.  

To find a list of our accomplishments, click the link in the box at right.

I would like to invite you to join us on March 30 for a benefit concert, film and speakers at the Ashland High School’s Mountain Avenue Theatre. See details in the box at right.

Jim Nagel is president of the Ashland-Sviatohirsk Aid Project.