‘Don’t forget about Ukraine’: Coloradans send aid one year into war
BOULDER, Colo. — With the right equipment and a few turns of a screw, a couple of dozen Coloradans of all ages built what could be a lifeline for Ukrainians.
These newly constructed machines combine recycled solar panels and converters to create solar chargers with four USB ports to charge vital items in black outs, like cell phones.
“I feel like I have a duty to help show, students, young adults, and older adults too, that it is still possible to make a change in this world,” said Rich Stromberg, the co-founder of Equitable Solar Solutions, a nonprofit born from Western Colorado University where students and Stromberg worked together to recycle old solar panels.
These nine solar panels make up the latest batch of solar panel chargers headed to Ukraine as the Eastern European country marks one year since Russian tanks crossed their border.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion that started Feb. 24, 2022. His reasons for attacking, like recently claiming Ukraine started this war, are generally considered lies. Most believe Ukraine's movements toward becoming a more democratic country and leaning toward joining NATO countries are what motivated Putin.
This week, Putin escalated tensions when he suspended the country’s participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the United States called New START. This move, of course, sent red flags up for many Americans and politicians.
“The safety and security of every American is paramount — and nuclear arms reduction is vital to the safety of America and the world,” Colorado District 6 Representative Jason Crow said in an emailed statement. “We will not be bullied into abandoning our Ukrainian friends nor stop the hard and necessary work of making our world safer from the threat of nuclear weapons.”
“Ukraine is, in essence, fighting a proxy war, the West versus the autocracy of the Soviet Union and Russia, and it is a statement that self-determination, freedom, freedom of expression are values that we really must protect,” said Andy Lenec, a Coloradan and passionate advocate for Ukraine.
Just this week, U.S. President Joe Biden made a secret visit to Ukraine and spoke to the world about the importance of supporting Ukraine in this war.
“Democracies of the world will stand guard over freedom today, tomorrow and forever,” Biden said at the Royal Castle, a historical landmark in Warsaw, Poland.
Since 2014, the U.S. has provided billions of dollars in “security assistance” for Ukraine and amped up those contributions last year, providing some military support. However, many Ukrainians and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have been asking the U.S. and Europe for more advanced military support in the form of fighter jets and long-range missile systems to properly defend itself and potentially end this Russian attack. The U.S. has not confirmed plans to do so.
In the year since the war began, more than 21,000 Ukrainian civilians have been injured or killed, billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure has been destroyed and countless lives have been impacted.
An example of destruction in Ukraine. Photo courtesy of Iryna Chechko.
“11 million people have either lost or had to leave their homes — a quarter of the population — and when you see children, but adults as well, having to adapt, and they're doing a great job,” Lenec explained. “But there's so much trauma that has been visited upon these people, especially the children, that it will take generations — not years — but literally generations for Ukrainians to heal after this.”
Lenec is a child of war refugees — different war, different generation — who came to the United States after World War II to avoid Soviet rule with every intention of eventually returning to Ukraine when it was safe. That never happened.
Growing up in New York, Lenec was still fully immersed in Ukrainian culture and visited throughout his life. His most recent time in Ukraine was in 2017 and 2018 when Lenec served in the Peace Corps. Staying in touch over the years since then, when the war came to his friends’ front doors, he couldn’t believe it.
[Related: From his roots to his new routine: A Coloradan focuses on helping Ukraine]
“Because it just seemed like a fantasy, you know, it's the 21st century, it's 2022, we shouldn't be having these tank battles. We shouldn't be having these unprovoked invasions of countries,” said Lenec.
Throughout the last year of this war, he's shifted his life to hearing the stories of his friends in Ukraine, finding ways to help them and reaching out to as many as he could to get the word about about what Ukrainians are experiencing every day.
“As I promised my friends, as early as this morning,” Lenec said to Rocky Mountain PBS on Monday. “I don't want people to forget about Ukraine and about the people of Ukraine.”
Andy Lenec spoke to Rocky Mountain PBS about the importance of continued support for Ukraine.
To keep his promise, he has jumped into a variety of projects with Ukrainian organizations in Colorado and with rotary clubs on ways to provide aid to the country. He has also shifted what was a weekly English club via Zoom to a time for sharing, connecting and describing the needs and challenges from his friends in Ukraine.
“I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of my Ukrainian friends, and I call them heroes because they are indeed heroic,” said Lenec. "They adapt knowing that they are damaged, and knowing that there is an attrition that is going on, that their neighbors, their brothers, their fathers, their sons are dying every day, every single day … there is this incredible determination."
One of the many projects he has taken on is helping facilitate the construction and delivery of the USB solar panel chargers. He figured out the logistics of who can build these chargers and how ship them to Ukraine, which is the most expensive part at about $100 per solar charger. With this latest batch, Lenec and Stromberg will have sent 27 chargers, making huge impact on each person who has received one.
“People use their cell phones, use the internet on their cell phones, use the voiceover internet protocol, messaging apps like Viber and things like that,” Lenec explained. “So having a charged cell phone is not a luxury now. It really falls into that category of a potentially lifesaving necessity.”
Lenec went on to share a story of a friend of his who lives near the Ukrainian border with Belarus who is constant communication to be on watch for a potential invasion from the north. A charged phone for her could give her that information as soon as possible, and she would have time to pack and leave her home.
“When the electricity goes out, internet goes out immediately. Cell phones still work, not for a long time, but they still work. So, in essence, it's a lifeline,” said Lenec.
Knowing how important these solar chargers will be, volunteers like the ones at the Boulder event not only built them but also covered them in messages of support for Ukrainians. An act of humanitarianism that Lenec hopes will inspire others.
“The opportunity to help Ukraine, whether it's getting in touch with me and helping me build a solar panel and write a message or go to Project Cure and pack boxes … there are so many organizations that are helping Ukraine right now,” said Lenec. “That’s a really, really good thing.”
Amanda Horvath is the managing producer at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at amandahorvath@rmpbs.org
Julio Sandoval is a multimedia journalist with Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach him at juliosandoval@rmpbs.org.