Shelter Island Reporter editorial: The bell tolls for thee

The images are the inevitable receipts of war, towns and cities obliterated, apartment blocks, hospitals, shopping centers turned to gray ghosts, haunting anyone who looks. Dead bodies on ruined streets.

The video record of what is happening in Ukraine brings us the unrelenting viciousness inflicted on civilians, all presented in high resolution color, with families dressed in the same fashions we wear, parents bundling their children in bright woolen caps and coats against harsh weather, striking us with a shock of recognition.

It also teaches an invaluable lesson, that old film footage of World War II, of people wearing what we think of as old clothes, seen trudging through fuzzy black-and-white landscapes of devastation, were vital, breathing citizens of the earth, who suffered.

We see the video of these contemporaries of ours at overwhelmed border crossings, jammed into trains, waiting in public places for a place to stay, to find relief and some comfort from the nightmare.

It’s rare that world events come into focus in the Reporter. But the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine became, and continues to be, a local story.

The day after the invasion, we spoke with Islander Sy Weissman, who had lived and worked in Ukraine.

We covered a rally in Riverhead supporting refugees on March 3, and published an extraordinary first-hand account on March 10 by Shelter Island High School graduate Nicholas Kaasik, now an attorney living in Switzerland. Nick wrote of bringing supplies, including water, fruit and baby food to a Red Cross tent on Ukraine’s border.

Nick said he went to the border “to see if I could be helpful, and be a witness.”

And on March 17, we brought you Islander Natalie Sticesen, who is also bearing witness to what is shattering her homeland and the uncertain fate of friends and family.

Some four million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion. To give a sense of what that number of people on the move means — Suffolk County has a population of 1,463,914.

Our area has rallied to aid those in need because of the war. Last month, the Orient Association held a prayer vigil and fundraiser at the Orient Congregational Church. Nearly every day, people bring clothes, blankets, sleeping bags and medical supplies to St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Riverhead for shipment to refugee centers in Poland.

The Center for Advocacy, Support and Transformation in Southold (CAST) is receiving donations for the Ukrainian refugees. The Shelter Island Student Council, National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society combined forces to sponsor a bake sale with all funds going to CARE’s Ukraine Crisis Fund.

“The people of Shelter Island have no doubt about the terrible nature of the war,” Ms. Sticesen said. “Everyone has asked, ‘What can we do? How can we help? Where can we donate?’ The people of Shelter Island are kind and caring.”

Here are organizations providing aid to Ukraine that Ms. Sticesen recommends:

Razom, https://razomforukraine.org

Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, unwla.org