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A Sonoma Sister Cities Association committee has launched an effort to help one of its sister cities, Kaniv, Ukraine, install solar panels at its fire department so that it can provide emergency services during the frigid winter months.
The effort began after Kaeti Bailie, chair of the association’s Kaniv Committee, received an email in June from Kaniv resident Anatoliy Leontyev, president of the Kaniv Friendship Association.
His letter stated that the Emergency Situations Service of the Cherkasy Region (which includes Kaniv) asked the Kaniv Friendship Association to join a project to ensure energy independence of the fire departments in Kaniv and other cities in the region.
The cities have been attacked during the ongoing Russo-Ukraine War, increasing the need for improved energy services, especially during the winter.
“This project aims to install solar stations to power fire departments, in particular during blackouts in winter,” Leontyev wrote. “As the experience of last winter shows, such an alternative power supply is very important for ensuring work. Power from gasoline generators for 12 to 16 hours a day is unreliable and very expensive due to the high price of gasoline.”
The Kaniv Committee previously raised money to install large, commercial rechargeable batteries at schools and public places, but the Kaniv Fire Department building and other places have relied on gasoline generators.
The monthly cost of power from the generators at the Kaniv Fire Department can cost as much as $2,000 to $2,500.
Leontyev said the In the Cherkasy region, solar stations have already been installed in the fire departments of two cities and that the Emergency Situations Service of the Cherkasy Region now wants to assemble such a station in Kaniv.
The estimated cost of the project is about $10,000, and the Cherkasy Rotary Club has promised to allocate half of the amount. Leontyev said that the Kaniv Friendship Association has been asked to provide the additional $5,000 and requested the Sonoma Sister Cities Association to help with the funding.
The work needs to be completed before winter in Kaniv, which typically lasts from November to mid-March, with snow from December to February.
“Last winter, there were blackouts where all electricity was off for three hours and then on for three hours 24 hours a day,” Bailie said.
So, the Kaniv Committee has created a webpage, https://givebutter.com/light-the-fire-k44epq, for donations to help fund solar panels for the Kaniv Fire Department building.
“We are also asking the Sonoma Valley Rotary if they can help,” Bailie said.
She said the committee hopes to raise $10,000.
“We will probably not raise that much but if we do, we will send the money for other worthy projects,” Bailie said.
The Kaniv Committee, a major supporter of the City of Kaniv and its people, recently sent 1,000 pairs of Bombas socks to Kaniv and plans to offer a fundraising event this fall.
Residents of Kaniv, located on the Dnieper River, 90 miles south of Kyiv, are currently experiencing the beginning of the warm summer period.
“They are trying to live sane and happy lives, given the circumstances,” Bailie said. “They have a very active community of volunteers who are constantly working to make emergency first-aid kits, food and clothing for the troops.”
Kaniv residents recently celebrated the birth anniversary of famous poet and artist Taras Shevchenko.
A native of Ukraine, his literary works, in particular the poetry collection “Kobzar,” are regarded to be the foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and to some degree, of the modern Ukrainian language.
Before Schevchenko died in 1861 at the age of 47, he requested to be buried in Kaniv. His grave soon became the type of pilgrimage destination usually reserved for sanctuaries and saints.
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