“I’m almost 70 years old, I’ve never felt more alive in my life,” said Gamache. “I’ve never felt the closeness of interaction with people, having discussions about life. Maybe it’s caused a bit by the war, but there was this heightened feeling, a sense of ‘This is as good as it gets in life’ in a very good way.”
Aurora resident Jim Gamache made his second trip this year to Ukraine from Sept. 11 to Oct. 22.
Gamache was determined to make a difference after meeting a mother and her son at the Ukraine-Poland border during a solo hiking trip in 2022.
He made his first trip to Ukraine back in May, spending four weeks volunteering with a kitchen and Brave to Rebuild, an organization that restores Ukrainian cities and villages.
Second trip to Ukraine for Gamache
He considers his first experience to have been a “100-level college course,” while the second trip to Ukraine was “post-graduate level.”
During the second trip, Gamache spent most of his time in Kharkiv, where he worked with an organization that provides items of need for those in Ukraine.
“I work with Front Line Kit, which is an offshoot of Front Line Kitchen, their sole efforts are around making dehydrated meals for the soldiers,” said Gamache. “Front Line (Kit) now works at providing aid to civilians and children, whether it be food packages, energy bars, and also raising funds for soldiers that need vehicles. There’s this close-knit group of people that continue to do work there. I was able to go back and reconnect with some of those people who have remained.”
Living through the war in Ukraine
Though more comfortable with his surroundings the second time around, Gamache saw the horror of the war firsthand at the Church of Transfiguration in the city of Odesa.
“The Russians struck one of the most historic churches in the Russian Orthodox religion,” said Gamache. “Killed one person, wounded a number of others. But it was amazing how citizens came together to clean up the rubble. Although there’s still a tremendous amount of work to be done, certainly things are on their way to recovery.”
While traveling through the village of Dovgenke, Gamache met several residents who endured many hardships but managed to stay positive.
“I can tell you that every single home was destroyed,” said Gamache. “The first couple that we met, they shared the story about how they had to de-mine their own garden so they could plant some vegetables. The next place we went, we met an older woman, and her home had been hit hard and she painted flowers on the side of her home to make it just feel a little bit better.”
Gamache said the most important item for Ukrainian soldiers is tourniquets.
“I was able to contact my friend in Lviv,” said Gamache. “He said, ‘Jim, I actually have 16 (tourniquets) here. I can send them to you and have them there in two days.’ They arrived, and you would have thought I gave them gold. But at the same, it was also disheartening that all we had was 16 because they could use hundreds.”
Gamache returned to the United States in October with a token of appreciation for all his hard work.
“(The driver) had a friend carve this and that’s engraved,” said Gamache. “It says, ‘Jim Gamache for helping Ukraine.’”
Though he hasn’t finalized the dates of a third trip, Gamache has no doubt another experience in Ukraine is in his future.
“I feel that’s actually my mission now,” said Gamache. “I’ve been told I’m in my element now, and I want to take advantage of it at this point in my life, maybe a bit selfishly. But I’m hoping that, as they say in Ukrainian ‘malo-pomalu, little by little’ that’s what I do will help others in this battle of good versus evil.”
Front Line Kit is currently accepting donations on their website.
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