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Viktor Petrenko Ukrainian Ice-Skating Champion,
Benefit Performance for the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund
International Figure Skating Center of Connecticut
The Viktor Petrenko Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is Created in
Petrenko's Hometown of Odessa, Ukraine
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The Spiritual leaders of the Viktor for Kids: Viktor Petrenko and Brian Boitano greet guests at the VIP Reception following the skating program
Photo by Joseph Sywenkyj
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Simsbury, CT, March 2001.......On the eve of the Chornobyl 15th
Anniversary, Ukrainian ice-skating champion Viktor Petrenko invited his
friends from the international skating community to help him raise public
awareness and funds to help some of the thousands of children who are
still being affected by the world's worst nuclear disaster. On March 2d
and 3d, at the International Skating Center of Connecticut, Petrenko
headlined an all-star cast that included American champion Brian Boitano,
French sensation Philippe Candeloro and US Silver Medalist Sasha Cohen
in "Viktory for Kids", a two-night benefit performance for the Children of
Chornobyl Relief Fund (CCRF).
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Proceeds from the sold-out event will be earmarked for the creation of the
Viktor Petrenko Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Petrenko's hometown of
Odessa. In an extensive interview with the Hartford Courant and USA Today,
Petrenko explained his motivation for organizing this unique benefit
performance for CCRF. "I received a lot from my city to get where I am
today.That's where I grew up.That's where I learned to skate.Now this is my
chance to pay them back." Petrenko described the many people he had seen in
Odessa who had survived Chornobyl, only to be stricken with cancer or to see
their children stricken with birth defects.
Petrenko turned to his close friend Brian Boitano, who was the first to
agree to skate in this charity fundraiser. Among the other skaters who also
donated their time and waived their performance fees were: Swiss National
Champion Lucinda Ruh, Ukrainian National Champion Viacheslav Zagorodniuk,
Italian National Champion Silvia Fontana, Ukrainian daredevil acrobats
Volodymyr Besedin and Alexei Polishchuk, Israeli National Champions Darya
Zuravicky and Michael Shmerkin, and ice dancing champions Oksana Kazakova
and Artur Dmitriev; Roman Kostomarov and Tatiana Navka; Maya Usova and
Evgeny Platov; and Angelica Krylova and Oleg Ovsannikov.
With the help of Petrenko's all-star cast, the International Skating Center
and the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund were able to secure sponsorships
from several major corporations led by title sponsor Cingular Wireless and
Environmental Systems Products (ESP) who financed widespread advertising
campaigns on television, radio, and print media. The Hartford Courant and
WFSB-Channel 3, Connecticut's CBS affiliate provided extensive news coverage
and promotional ads for CCRF.
Western Union Financial Services also made a major contribution in honor of
Viktor Petrenko who serves as the spokesperson for the company's Eastern
European campaign. Western Union marketing director Rennie Jackson presented
CCRF with a check for $9,400 for the purchase of an infant warmer for the
Petrenko Neonatal Unit. Other local and national sponsors included the
Connecticut Natural Gas Corporation (CNG) and Virginia-based EuroTech, a
manufacturer of innovative technology to encase and safeguard nuclear waste
at the Chornobyl site. Altogether, CCRF received net proceeds of $120,000
above expenses, and more donations are still coming into the Fund's New
Haven office.
CCRF is an award-winning New Jersey-based charity that has recently
completed its 27th airlift to Ukraine. Altogether, the Fund has delivered
over 1,300 tons of medical and humanitarian aid valued at $46 million
dollars to hospitals that specialize in the treatment of children affected
by thyroid cancer, birth defects, and other illnesses believed to be linked
to radiation exposure. CCRF has established six other neonatal units similar
to the one planned for Odessa. These newborn intensive care units have had a
major impact on infant mortality in CCRF's partner hospitals in Lutsk,
Poltava, Chernihiv, Rivne, Dnipropetrovsk and Lviv. The Ukrainian
investigative journal "Fakty" has verified, for instance, that technology
and training provided by CCRF has reduced mortality in the Poltava Maternity
Center by nearly 90%. CCRF hopes to achieve similar results in Odessa and
other cities.
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The children's choir from the Roaring Book Elementary School
poses with the All-Star Cast from the Singular Wireless Viktory For Kids benefit performance for the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund
Photo by Joseph Sywenkyj
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To help familiarize the audience with the impact of Chornobyl and CCRF's
medical mission, each Viktory for Kids program began with a short
introduction and slide show. Schoolchildren from the local towns of Simsbury
and Avon read translations of a poem by Ukrainian prodigy Vika Ivchenko and
the first-hand account of a young Chornobyl survivor now living in
Slavutych. A tearful hush fell over the audience as Grammy Award-winning
jazz virtuoso Paul Winter performed variations on a Bach adagio as a giant
screen displayed images of Ukrainian children by Connecticut-born
photographer Joseph Sywenkyj who visited orphanages and cancer wards in
Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne and Kirovohrad.
Olympic champion Ekaterina Gordieva electrified the crowd with her
admonition: "This show is not about you or me. It's not about Viktor or any
of the other great skaters donating their efforts tonight. This is about
Kids. The kids in Ukraine who are still suffering as a result of this
terrible accident. The kids who eagerly await Western technology and aid so
that they may live a little longer and suffer a little less."
The solemnity of the opening ceremonies was broken by a children's choir
from the Roaring Brook Elementary School Chorus of Avon performing "One
Song", an original composition written for the occasion by choral director
Carl Sauerbrunn. The Jagged Ice children's precision ice skating team then
performed a special on-ice rendition of Michael Jackson's "Man in the
Mirror" choreographed by the ISCC's artistic director John Thomas. Only then
did the international array of stars emerge one by one to greet the
audience.
The Viktory For Kids program was sold out on both Friday and Saturday
evening. In addition to ticket sales and corporate sponsorships, CCRF and
the ISCC also raised funds through a celebrity auction, VIP reception and
program booklet.
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Viktor Petrenko
Photo by Krista Hicks Benson
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Usova and Platov
Photo by Krista Hicks Benson
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Vladimirand with daughter
Photo by Krista Hicks Benson
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Brian Boitano
Photo by Krista Hicks Benson
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For more information, or to support CCRF and the Viktor Petrenko Neonatal
Intensive Care Unit, readers are urged to write or make tax-deductible
donations
to CCRF, 272 Old Short Hills Road, Short Hills, NJ 07078, or to call (973)
376-5140 or (203) 387-0507, http://www.childrenofchornobyl.org
To View The Photogallery Click On
http://www.childrenofchornobyl.org/iceskatingallery.htm
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