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June 2022 Foundation Newsletter

The Foundation Newsletter is a quarterly publication which will keep members informed about the latest philanthropic endeavors and educational and research initiatives supported by The Foundation.
 

Tar Wars Finds a new “home” in Peoria

While schools continued to recover and make up ground lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, some dedicated medical students found another great home to provide the important lessons about tobacco prevention to area youth.  University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria medical students taught Tar Wars by visiting the after-school program at Friendship House.  

 

Founded in 1951, the mission of the Peoria Friendship House of Christian Service https://www.friendship.house/is to empower families by giving them hope and a path to prosperity. PFH programs and services include a K-8 after-school program, English Language Support, Parent Mentoring Program and a Food Pantry supported by volunteers and donors.

This year UICOMP students, organized by FMIG leader Keila Magafas, presented Tar Wars at local schools including: St Mary’s, Peoria Academy and virtually at Concordia Lutheran School.  “After meeting Shelby from the Friendship House, it seemed like the perfect place to bring Tar Wars! The Friendship House is an impressive, non-profit organization that is truly for the community. I am constantly in awe of all the community events the Friendship House brings forth. I hope the connection between UICOMP and the Friendship House continues to grow.” summarized Magafas.

 

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Meet this Member:  Olena Gordon, MD

Dr. Gordon with her daughter Viktoria, who works in the clinic and will begin her own physician journey as a medical student at University of Missouri at Kansas City this fall.

The solo practice in Niles is in a simple storefront not far from Lutheran General Hospital.  But inside this small storefront practice you’ll find the dynamic duo of Dr. Olena Gordon and her daughter, Viktoria Kontseva. Together they are the brains and heart behind the UMANA-Illinois chapter’s incredible drive to equip physicians, soldiers and other providers in Ukraine and Poland with the supplies, equipment and medications desperately needed for the people of Ukraine who have now endured more than 100 days of Russian military attacks.

 

Gordon was born in Ukraine and came to the US in 2003 after medical school.  After working as a phlebotomist in Detroit, she was accepted to the Saints Mary and Elizabeth’s Hospital Family Medicine Residency in Chicago (Becoming Ascension St. Mary’s Hospital effective July 1).    

Fun fact about her residency, her older brother, Dr. Vlodomyr Dovnyy, was her chief resident during her second year!

 

Dr. Gordon in in the middle of a two-year term as President of the Illinois Chapter of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America (UMANA).  UMANA was founded in 1950, is a voluntary non-profit association of professionals licensed to practice in their areas of health care in the United States and Canada. UMANA’s objectives are:

  • Unite health care professionals of Ukrainian descent, who share an interest in promoting the health of Ukrainians
  • Share medical knowledge and scientific research with emphasis on aspects unique to Ukrainians

But now they needed to do more to help their families and colleagues in Ukraine. This was completely uncharted territory for this association, but Gordon was determined to make it happen.  Days after the invasion began on February 26 she called the national office to say they needed to do more than send money.  Though she had no large-scale humanitarian experience, Gordon and her colleagues were undaunted. They immediately got to work starting on March 1 and found the right logistics organizations to partner with. 

“There were lots of organization sending humanitarian aid, so we said we need to focus on the just the medical – supplies and medication,” says Gordon.  “We can be more effective, reaching out to our colleagues in Ukraine and getting them exactly what they need.” That was the start of something big.  

 

The results are staggering in scope and success as donations poured in from area providers and other surrounding states.  So far, they’ve chartered four cargo planes with supplies, which even included five ambulances.  The cargo aircraft and flights were donated from people in California.  Viktoria became the point person coordinating volunteers and promoting the efforts via extensive social media.  Soon the amount of space required to organize the avalanche of donations, painstakingly inventory every item, and properly ship these supplies overseas grew. The rules and procedures for packing and labeling the proper palates and shipping medical equipment overseas is more daunting than they knew going in! 

 

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15th Annual "Home Runs for Healthy Families"  
 Fundraiser with the Chicago White Sox

Friday, August 12, 2022 at 6:10 PM vs. Detroit Tigers!

Tickets Now Available Online!


$10 of every ticket purchased goes directly to support our Foundation programs.

 

Stay for a postgame concert featuring GRAMMY® Award-nominated electronic dance artist Kaskade.

Everyone with a ticket to the game can stay and enjoy the show!

 

If you can't attend, play along virtually by submitting a pledge based on the game outcome!


Promotion subject to change. Fans must have a game ticket to attend the concert.
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