A humanitarian partnership initiated by Rotary Club of Edina Morningside seeks to save lives of innocent Ukrainian civilians impacted by Russia’s invasion by providing a used $1.2 million ladder truck fire engine owned by the City of Plymouth, Minnesota. The Plymouth City Council is scheduled to vote on the donation of the fire truck at its January 10, 2023 meeting.
The need for firetrucks and ambulances in Ukraine was a topic mentioned at the 2022 Fall North Star Rotary Zone Institute held in Minnesota. This piqued the attention of Past 5950 District Governor Tom Gump, who is a member of The Rotary Club of Edina Morningside. Gump met one on one with some local mayors, including Jeff Wosje, Rotarian and Mayor of Plymouth, MN. Usually Plymouth auctions its used equipment.
If it’s approved at the January 10 Plymouth City Council meeting, the ladder truck will join at least one other fire engine and seven ambulances in a shipment expected to leave the U.S.A. in early February, 2023.
Rotarians have secured of the help of another nonprofit to cover the $17,000 transportation cost of delivering the ladder truck to Ukraine.
This is part of a larger-scale effort. A shipment of ten ambulances and one fire engine, donations arranged by several different companies in different states, was scheduled for delivery in late December, 2022. US Ambulances for Ukraine and UA-Resistance.org arranges for the vehicles to be shipped or flown to Ukraine; a flight is possible if there is US or Ukrainian Military aircraft support.
Ukraine officials express the dire need, as well as gratitude, for the rescue and medical equipment. As of December 10, 2022, the Russian army had destroyed 144 hospital facilities and damaged over 1,000, including more than 200 ambulances, reported Serihy Koledov, Counsul General for Ukraine in Chicago. The “massive destruction” of facilities, supplies, and equipment combine with displacement of medical staff. This winter an energy crisis producing power outages is forcing cases where doctors perform emergency surgery by flashlight “and barely meeting the hygiene protocols due to lack of water,” according to Koledov.
Meanwhile, “brave Ukrainian people stay strong and will continue defending our country and the democratic values of the free world,” Koledov noted in a letter to Mayor Wosje.
Other sought-after equipment needed in Ukraine, along with ambulance and fire engines, includes: tanker trucks, mini-excavators, mobile cranes, and cargo lifting mechanisms, according to Koledov.
“I am recruiting a group of Plymouth and other Rotarians to attend the Council Meeting the night they have the vote,” PDG Gump said. “I am hoping that maybe some of you would join the group that will be attending the meeting to support the donation. It seems meant to be.”
D5950 Rotary Joins Support for Ukraine, Arranging Donation of a Valuable Local Fire Truck
The City of Plymouth City Council has on its agenda the donation of the fire engine at its meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. January 10, 2023. Plymouth City Hall is located at 3400 Plymouth Boulevard, Plymouth, MN. 55447-1482.
Past 5950 District Governor Tom Gump can be reached at: tagump@gmail.com
Rotarian and City of Plymouth Mayor Jeff Wosje can be reached at jwosje@plymouthmn.gov.