Agawam man evacuates hundreds of refugees from Ukraine

March 16, 2022 | Sarah Heinonen
sheinonen@thereminder.com

Ivan Vilkhovoy holds a child evacuated from Ukraine.
Photo Credit: Svetlana Vilkhovoy

AGAWAM – The world has watched Ukraine for three weeks, since Russian forces invaded the neighboring country of more than 44 million people. Nearly 2 million of those people have fled to neighboring Poland, and a Ukranian American is helping the most vulnerable of them make that journey.

Ivan Vilkhovoy lives with his wife Svetlana Vilkhovoy in Agawam, but for the past eight years, he has done missionary work in Ukraine. As a missionary, Ivan delivered food, toys and other necessities to people in need. When the war began, he turned his efforts to evacuating people in need from several cities in the country.

Using his large van, Ivan goes to Kyiv and several other cities to pick up children, the elderly and those with disabilities. He then drives them to the Polish border, nearly nine hours from the capital city and 15 hours from the second largest city, Kharkiv, only to turn around to make the trip again. Since the war began, he has made these trips nearly every day, evacuating up to 100 people in a day.

Arranging the transportation is not a smooth process.

“It’s mostly word of mouth,” said Ivan’s niece, Julie Vilkhovoy. “He has a good amount of contacts,” from his time as a missionary. She said people will let Ivan know about children hiding in a basement somewhere or he will put out the word that he can meet people at a nearby checkpoint.

“He’s just a true hero. It’s inspiring to have someone like that in your family,” said Julie, who is mostly Russian and a quarter Ukranian. Her husband is fully Ukrainian. She said the area where his family lives is safe, for now.

Once evacuees reach the Polish border, Julie said, that country’s government takes over and provide shelter, especially for orphans and those without family.
Julie explained that when Ivan has a cellular signal, he contacts his wife, who updates the rest of the family. She also posts updates and photos of her husband’s work in Ukraine on her Instagram page, www.instagram.com/svetlana_vilk. Svetlana has shared that Ivan has driven through shelling on some of his trips across Ukraine.

When Ivan worked as a missionary, independent of a specific church, the Vilkhovoy family used to send over donations in shipping containers. Ivan’s niece, Julie Vilkhovoy, explained the current circumstances make receiving items that way slow or impossible. Now, Ivan must buy those items in Poland. Realizing he could not do the work on his own, Ivan partnered with the Alms Giving Foundation, a 501c non-profit, to receive donations for gas, food, water and medical supplies.

Anatoliy Belyshev and Julie Belyshev, who own Alex’s Bagel Shop in Longmeadow, are longtime family friends of the Vilkhovoys. On the weekend of March 4-6, the couple hosted a bake sale to help support Ivan’s work.

“It’s been amazing,” said Anatoliy. He said they expected to raise $500 but people gave a total of $3,500 that weekend. Alex’s Bagel Shop has a link on its website to allow people to donate money. As of March 10, the Belyshevs had raised another $500.

“I don’t think this is going away anytime soon,” Julie Belyshev said of the war.
Julie Belyshev shared that when people ask Svetlana what they can do for Ivan, her response is, “please pray for my husband.” Anatoliy said of his friends, “These are very humble people.”

Ivan’s niece shared a similar sentiment. “He’s a very selfless person. His wife and children are here but he’s there to help people who don’t have a chance,” Julie said. “We know he’s not going to stop until the Ukrainian people have a chance.”

To donate to Ivan’s efforts through the Alms Giving Foundation, visit www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=P49K4672HAJ6U. To donate through Alex’s Bagel Shop, visit www.alexsbagels.com/ukraine-donations.

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