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Group from Langford returning to Ukraine for humanitarian mission

SD62 board chair Ravi Parmar is also going to encourage education supports
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From left to right, Shawn Carby, a volunteer with GlobalMedic, Bob Beckett, Sooke School District board vice-chair and Langford Mayor Stew Young. The trio went on the last trip to Ukraine in June. (Bailey Moreton/News Staff)

Bob Beckett is returning to Ukraine on a humanitarian mission, along with Sooke School District board chair Ravi Parmar.

Beckett was in Ukraine in June 2022 with former Langford Mayor Stew Young and volunteers from charity GlobalMedic. During the trip, Langford signed several sister city agreements with three Ukrainian cities. There were also agreements signed between SD62 and Ukranian school districts, as well as plans to provide firefighter equipment and food supplies.

Money for the trip is coming from the $50,000 collected at a fundraiser back in November last year. Funds will go towards school supplies, fire and medical equipment and to help the work of the Victoria Hand Project, a charity that gives amputees prosthetic lower arms and hands.

“Limb loss is a life-changing physical disability, that can cause loss of employment, depression and withdrawal, and social stigma. We want to help Ukrainian amputees with physical devices to regain their lost function, boost their self-esteem and hopefully open doors for a new-normal in life,” the project’s founder Nick Dechev said in a stateent, who is also going on the trip.

Beckett will also be accompanied by a videographer, Brendan Strain, who filmed the last Ukraine trip in June.

This will be Beckett’s 27th humanitarian mission dating back to his first being to Bosnia in 1995. He’s been on missions to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mexico, Haiti, and in New York days after 9/11.

“The people of Ukraine need all the support that people from around the world can offer,” Beckett said in a statement. “The generosity of our community and its businesses who simply want to help Ukrainians any way they can is a testament to our shared humanity.”

READ MORE: Breaking down the costs of Langford mayor’s trip to Ukraine

READ MORE: Langford team returns from Ukraine trip


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