The Petawawa business community has come together to support a family from Ukraine. The Ladychenko family fled the war in Ukraine and are currently living in Petawawa.
On the morning of February 24th, 2022, sixteen year-old twin brother and sister Alyona and Andrey were woken up by nearby bombing.
The next day, parents Olga and Maxsym drove five and a half hours across the Ukraine to pick up their children from the specialized mathematics school they were attending. The return trip across Ukraine took five days to complete due to roads and bridges being destroyed, constant checkpoints, curfews that restricted nighttime driving and the dangers of bombardment.
After leaving Ukraine, the family crossed into Poland on March 8th and were contacted by old friends from the Ukraine who now live in Petawawa, Masha Zakharenkova and Denys Yelisyeye.
After a lengthy process that involved applying for visas at the Canadian Embassy in Warsaw, eventually they arrived in Toronto on April 1st.
For the first few weeks in Petawawa, the Ladychenko family found the sound of helicopters and artillery most disconcerting, but have since gotten used to it.
The Rotary Club of Petawawa and the Petawawa Presbyterian Church has raised $21,300 to help pay for groceries and food, clothing, transportation, medical, rent and other expenses.
Rotarian Gary Serviss says the more people heard about the fundraiser, the more they wanted to help out.
Serviss says it’s great to see all the community support and adds the Ladychenko came to Petawawa with only a backpack, knowing just one family and speaking very limited English.
Roger and Cathy Leblanc donated a 2013 Nissan Altima to the Ladychenko family. Cathy says the car belonged to their son Kyle Leblanc who recently passed away.
Roger Leblanc tells myFM donating the vehicle to the family is the right thing to do and what their son would have wanted.
When they left Ukraine, Alyona was forced to leave behind her cherished violin and Andrey his favourite guitar. Stacy Graveline and the Ghost Town Cryers generously donated a violin and Petawawa resident, Kate Ryan, kindly donated a guitar so the twins could once again play their music.
PETAWAWA COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER TO SUPPORT THE LADYCHENKO FAMILY
- Art and Linda Arsenault of Art-E-Motive Repairs Inc. donated the vehicle repairs and safety inspection.
- Todd Briscoe of Car Quest Auto Parts donated the parts.
- Shawn Gilchrist of Ed’s Radiator Repair donated the oil undercoating.
- Phil Krueger of Petawawa Auto Glass donated a windshield.
- Shawn MacMillan of Mac’s Transmission donated the transmission service.
- Mckie Pools and Spas donated a $300 gas card.
The children, Alyona and Andrey, attended Valour High School for a few months in order to help them assimilate into the community. Then they eventually gained employment at Harvey’s Restaurant where they continue to hone their English speaking skills. Olga received employment at Hyska’s Independent Grocers and hopes to improve her English speaking skills as well. Maxsym has gained employment at Carson Lake Lumber Ltd. Once their English language skills have improved sufficiently, Alyona and Andrey hope to attend university in Canada in the computer field, Olga hopes to return to employment in her specialty which is Human Resources and Maxsym hopes to gain employment in his field which is as a business analyst or computer network specialist.
(written by: Rudy Kadlec with files from Sierra Levesque)