Roselle Fire Department collecting donations for Ukraine

As war rages on in Ukraine, the Roselle Fire Department is stepping in to help Ukrainians who have fled their homes or lost their homes and have very little in the way of clothes and shoes, and other supplies.

In collaboration with the Carol Stream-based Patriot Transport and Bridgeview-based Liv Transportation, the fire department has collected donations of new and gently used clothing, shoes, blankets and more, to send to Europe for refugee families.

The idea was sparked by firefighter Al Litrenta, whose wife, Angelika, has family in Poland near the Ukrainian border. Her family has taken in refugees fleeing the war.

In the wake of Russia launching the largest conventional military attack on a sovereign European country since World War II, the United Nations reports that more than 1.7 million people have so far fled Ukraine. The UN estimates another 4 million will leave this year.

Litrenta organized the collection, which led to the department turning over a lot of material in a very short amount of time.

"It's been a bigger turnout than I imagined, but you can't be upset about that," Litrenta said. "So many people wanted to do something and needed an outlet. I think this made people feel a little bit less helpless."

Fire Chief Mark Bozik said that the department collected enough blankets, clothes, medical supplies, nonperishable food and diapers to fill a three-car garage. In fact, they collected more than the transport companies could handle, and the department now is looking for other organizations who can take some of the supplies and get them shipped to Ukraine a different way.

Litrenta said the Bloomingdale Fire Department has agreed to take some.

The Roselle Fire Department has therefore stopped taking donations, and has turned its attention to getting the supplies overseas. In the next few weeks the transport companies will move the donations to Poland in various cargo shipments, and then work with the Red Cross on the Polish-Ukrainian border to get them distributed.

"It was a tremendous undertaking," Bozik said. "We were overwhelmed and very happy with people's generosity. Roselle has a large immigrant population and this gave people a big chance to help out."

"It makes you feel a restored sense of hope in humanity," Angelika Litrenta added.