Ham radio operator Bob Parsons of Gorham, shown here, made contact this week with an operator in the Kyiv area despite a Ukrainian ban on transmissions. Robert Lowell / American Journal
Support from all over Maine is being sent to Ukraine as residents of the Pine Tree State pitch in with donation drives, benefit dinners and concerts to help the victims of the Russian invasion of its Eastern European neighbor.
Events are being held statewide and Gorham residents are among those in the forefront of efforts to help, along with local endeavors in Portland and Yarmouth.
One Gorham resident has lent moral support through direct contact with a Ukrainian man.
Ham radio buff Bob Parsons got through this week to Volody Leshkulich, who was somewhere in the area of Kyiv, the capital city under attack by Russian forces. Leshkulich speaks English.
“They are hanging in there. That’s just about all he said. He wasn’t going to elaborate,” said Parsons, who broadcasts from his home via an antenna on a 55-foot tower using the call letters KA1KSQ.
Parsons said Leshkulich’s picture and transmission location have been removed from ham radio sites on the internet.
“Any radio amateur currently transmitting in Ukraine is risking his or her life,” a post on dx-world.net/amateur-radio-ban-Ukraine said Feb. 27. “If you hear a Ukrainian station, do not broadcast its call sign, location, or frequency.”
“There was all kinds of hams in the United States trying to reach him,” Parsons said.
Parsons said he also made radio contact this week with a Polish man near the Ukraine border who said he heard shelling.
Meanwhile, Russian ham operators are still on the air, according to a friend of Parsons who is a fellow ham radio operator in Normandy.
Gorham couple assists at border
As millions of people flee Ukraine, Greg and Bonnie Harrison of Gorham are in Romania to assist Ukrainian refugees at the Romanian border.
The Harrisons are members of Second Parish Presbyterian Church in Scarborough, but their ministry is separate, the Rev. Danny Patterson said.
The couple is translating Ukrainian to English, because most Romanians helping at the border speak English, according to Patterson.
“They are also helping with temporary housing while they figure out where they (refugees) will be headed next,” the pastor said.
Patterson said some refugees will stay in Romania. He said others are seeking asylum and so have to head to a government agency in Romania to get their papers, while others are headed to countries beyond Romania.
Benefits planned
Among numerous benefits planned is hand-in-hand benefit dinner at the First Russian Baptist Church at 211 Mosher Road in Gorham. The dinner at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 26, will benefit Ukrainian children. Admission is by donation. For more information, go to frbcme.org/language/en.
An opera singer from Russia will perform at the First Parish Congregational Church, 116 Main St., Yarmouth, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 29, to raise money for victims of the invasion of Ukraine. Pavel Sulyandziga, a graduate of the Academy of Music in Moscow who now lives in New York ,will include Ukrainian songs. Donations will go to the Partners for World Health’s Ukraine Fund. The Portland-based nonprofit collects medical supplies for distribution to individuals, communities and health care facilities and ships them where needed.
Also benefiting Partners for World Health is a “Concert for Ukraine,” planned for April 9 at One Longfellow Square in downtown Portland. The show will feature performances by Jason Spooner, Joe K. Walsh, Caroline Cotter, Dominic Lavoie, Angelikah Fahray, Clarisse Karasira and others.
‘Maine to Ukraine’
On a larger scale, on March 21, the Retail Association of Maine launched “Maine to Ukraine,” asking shop owners statewide to donate clothing to Ukrainians, according to the Portland Press Herald. The public are invited to participate by donating canned meat, energy bars, tea and coffee, condensed milk, pet food, candy, soap and dishes.
Donations can be dropped off at the state’s seven visitor centers. There are plans to set up sites to collect the food at some shops around Maine, but details haven’t been worked out.
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