Mar 29, 2022
Justyna Babcock (Provided photo)
BLOOMINGDALE — When Justyna Babcock packs her bags to visit her family in Poland on Saturday, she plans to bring some baggage not on the usual international travel checklist — letters with messages of love and support for Ukrainians.
Babcock was born in Poland and grew up there. She moved to the Adirondacks 20 years ago and made it her new home. She hasn’t been able to visit her family and home country for three years because of the coronavirus pandemic. She finally bought plane tickets before the Russian invasion into Ukraine and has now been closely following the war going on so close to her home country.
“I cried almost every day,” Babcock said.
Babcock said it is a “horrible, unjustified war, that is destroying this beautiful country.”
She said she’s heard about children’s hospitals in Ukraine which used to treat broken arms from playground or bicycling accidents.
“Now, the kids are coming with shrapnel wounds,” Babcock said.
She plans to go visit with her mother and see if there’s any way she can help Ukrainians who are making Poland a new or temporary home. That’s a bonus of the trip, she said.
One thing she’s doing is collecting letters to send to people living, fighting and surviving across the Polish border. Those who want to write a letter for Babcock to bring can drop them off at the Enterprise offices at 54 Broadway in Saranac Lake by Friday morning.
Babcock said when she arrives in Poland she will bring the letters to the Catholic charitable organization Caritas Internationalis, which is sending care packages across the border to Ukraine.
Poland borders Ukraine on the war-torn country’s western side. As Russia invades from the east, Ukrainians are fleeing west, and some are seeking refuge in Poland.
Babcock said she got the idea while listening to NPR’s Weekend Edition, where she learned about a doctor from Kyiv named Aleksandra Shchebet, who, among boxes of medical supplies she’s sending deeper into the warzone, is finding letters from people from around the world with messages of encouragement.
“I have thought that if anyone from Saranac Lake and surrounding area would like to send a ‘Love Note to Ukraine,’ a simple note of encouragement or prayer … I would take them with me and send them with care packages,” Babcock wrote in an email.
Babcock said these letters could be simple statements or long messages — they could even be just a picture or drawing. She said Ukrainians, especially the younger generations, speak Ukrainian, Russian and English, so letters written in English should be fine.
“If I have even one or two letters, I’ll take them,” she said.
She said she’s not asking for money, just letters.
Babcock is a bus driver for the Saranac Lake Central School District. She said when her coworkers learned of her trip, they collected some money for her to bring to Ukrainians in Poland, without her asking. Babcock said she’ll use it to buy ice cream for the kids or help a family in need.
Babcock said despite the war in the region, she’s not concerned about visiting Poland. She said attacking there is a line she thinks Putin will not cross.
In Poland, she said things are busy. People there are opening their homes — even small one-bedroom apartments — to Ukrainian refugees.
There’s not much time to collect the letters, Babcock said. She leaves Saturday morning. But she said she’ll pick up all the letters on Friday afternoon at the Enterprise.
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