Olena Zelenska may be less well known than her husband, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but she is considered no less heroic.
She and her husband were given the opportunity to flee their country after the Russian invasion in February 2022. However, she decided to stay in the war zone with her two children by his side.
Zelenska did not want to remain hidden or inactive, but devoted all her energy to caring for children who had been injured or displaced by the fighting.
The Ukrainian mother founded the Olena Zelenska Foundation to provide humanitarian aid and evacuate children suffering from various chronic diseases, including cancer and heart disease, to medical facilities in other countries.
The goal, she told several dozen donors and business leaders at a private lunch in Salt Lake City on Friday, is to “get them out of the hospitals in the strike zone and get them safely treated across the border.”
So far, they have succeeded in evacuating about 500 children in so-called “convoys of life”.
The foundation’s other projects include:
• Construction of air raid shelters in primary schools.
• Providing laptops and iPads for distance learning in places where gatherings are too dangerous.
• Creating “superhero schools” for children who have been hospitalized for months.
A final goal, Zelenska told Utahns, is to set up an emergency fund for a “rapid response.”
Ukraine’s first lady referred to this week’s rocket attack on Kyiv’s largest children’s hospital, which is forcing cancer patients to seek treatment elsewhere.
“This brutal attack shows once again that Ukraine needs the world’s attention and help to save lives and rebuild,” she said in excellent English. “My mission now is not only to tell the world the truth about what is happening in Ukraine, but also to actively contribute to the reconstruction of my country.”
Zelenska concluded with effusive praise for the Beehive State donors who have provided millions of dollars in funding, food, shelter, clothing and services, and a plea for the future.
“I sincerely hope that you and your companies will find communities to partner with us starting today,” she said, “and together we can achieve (amazing) results.”
(World Trade Center Utah) Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska, left, meets Gail Miller during a meeting with Utah business leaders at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, Friday, July 12, 2024.
Among those attending was Gail Miller, whose foundation helped raise about $4 million in aid to Ukraine within 48 hours of the invasion.
There were more than 3,600 donations and “90% of those donations were $100 or less,” Miller said Friday. “… So you see we are a community that cares about the well-being of the people.”
Even though the people of Utah and the Ukrainians “speak different languages, our hearts speak to each other,” Miller said, “and we will stand behind you.”
Jonathan Freedman, president and CEO of World Trade Center Utah, served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ukraine for two years in the 1990s and became the Eastern European country’s honorary consul in Utah in 2008.
Freedman was the catalyst for Zelensky and Zelenska to come to Utah this week for a meeting of the National Governors Association after the couple were in Washington for a NATO summit.
Of the Ukrainians, Freedman said at lunch: “They are us, we are them, and they need our help.”
