An Edmonton business owner and his daughter are in Poland helping refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Dale Wishewan and his daughter, Sienna, have been at a humanitarian crisis centre in Kraków, Poland for eight days helping refugees get rested and prepped for their next location, which include Germany, Austria and Denmark.
“People have been standing at the border for 17 hours. They are so tired,” Sienna explained. “I’ve been volunteering a lot with mothers and kids… the older kids are carrying so much weight.”
Sienna’s rule for volunteering is to “do the good that’s in front of you,” which can include cleaning, assisting people to transport buses and taking care of kids so parents can take a break.
“They have nothing. Some moms didn’t even have baby bottles. We are finding supplies and making sure they can be set up.”
Dale said he has noticed a stark difference in refugees arriving in recent days, compared to those who came earlier to the centre.
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“It’s very apparent that the people who have just come through have seen much worse things than those who came through even four or five days ago,” Wishewan said. “I’m certain they have seen people killed in front of their eyes.”
Wishewan said nearly every single person coming in to the camp is a woman or child — as the men in the families turn around and go back to Ukraine to fight the Russian army.
“If anything, you’re seeing men from other countries wanting to cross the border and fight in the war,” he explained. “I would say 99.5% of people arriving are women and kids.”
Dale is the president and CEO of Booster Juice and co-owner of the Vegas Golden Nights. He said he had a desire to go help on the ground because of his family ties to Ukraine.
“We wanted to do more… beyond our usual financial support for charities,” he explained to Global News. “This could have been any one of us… just being uprooted for no reason.”
“When the war broke out, it just pulled all of our emotions a lot harder than maybe if we didn’t have those ties. It was really important to go to help and support in whatever way we could,” Sienna said.
For her, it was overwhelming to see the amount of people being brought to the centre each day, estimating the number was in the “thousands.”
Dale said he wants people in Edmonton to know donations provide a wide range of opportunities to offer assistance.
“If you have the means, donate to whatever organization you choose,” Wishewan said.
Booster Juice currently has a campaign that is matching donations to Ukrainian refugees. Right now, it will match donations up to $200,000.
The duo plans to return to Alberta on Thursday.