Hartford group making medical kits
Ukrainian scouting organization Plast works to aid war effort, help ‘keep the culture alive’
HARTFORD — Justin and Julia Nascimento’s grandparents fled Soviet Ukraine after World War II. They wound up in a displaced persons camp in Germany, then emigrated to the United States.
On Saturday afternoon, the teenage siblings from Glastonbury gathered with other members of the Hartford area’s Ukrainian American community to help a new generation of embattled Ukrainians.
The youths are members of Plast, a worldwide Ukrainian scouting organization. They assembled at St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church at 135 Wethersfield Ave. in Hartford to make emergency medical kits for soldiers, volunteers and security personnel resisting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“It’s important to do your part to help people you care about when you have the chance,” Julia said.
Her brother said making the kits is part of maintaining Ukrainian heritage, which is one of the everyday goals of Plast. “In America, there is a lot of assimilation. It’s important to keep your roots, keeping the culture alive. If Russia wants Ukraine to be part of Russia, I feel like we’re helping to [keep the culture alive],” he said.
Plast is an international nonprofit whose members learn the Ukrainian language, history, culture, geography and traditions. This time of year, the traditional lesson is how to make pysanky, or Ukrainian Easter eggs.
Since the hostilities began in February, Plast has been in the forefront of helping Ukrainians with medical supplies and other humanitarian relief efforts.
On Saturday, the Plast members put together 500 shrink-wrapped
EMKs with vinyl gloves, surgical dressings, butterfly closures, bandages, gauze pads, antibiotic ointment and self-sticking bandage rolls. All the medical material was donated by Eastern Connecticut Health Network.
“This is the bare minimum of what they need. It’s to stymie any worsening progress of any injury until they can get into intensive care,” said Marie Briggs, who led the EMK project.