How far would you go to help refugees of the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
For two married Fairfax County Public Schools teachers, the answer is more than 4,600 miles.
Lee Hedrick, a government teacher at W.T. Woodson High School, and Meredith Hedrick, chair of the English for Speakers of Other Languages department at Annandale High School, made the 18-hour journey to Przemysl, Poland, to help feed Ukrainian refugees.
Lee and Meredith, who celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary a couple days ago, were both Peace Corps volunteers. Lee served in Senegal; Meredith served in Turkmenistan.
This spring, when they saw what was happening during Russia鈥檚 brutal war on Ukraine, they looked for ways to help. One of the reasons was because of what they taught their students.
鈥淚n our classes, we鈥檙e trying to teach the importance of history, of empathy, of taking care of one another,鈥� Meredith told 草莓传媒. 鈥淛ust from our life experience of traveling, and having this sense of service, then being educators and trying to teach our kids to be role models and to be changemakers, and then feeling like we had the skills and we were prepared.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e familiar in working with different cultures because we had also lived overseas 鈥� I felt like our skills and experience lended itself well to going over and helping out.鈥�
For Lee, being a history teacher and teaching about different conflicts had a lot to do with it too.
鈥淚n the past, we鈥檝e learned about World War I or World War II and the atrocities there. And I felt like this was a conflict taking place during our lifetime where I would hate to look back 10 years in the future and say, 鈥極h, this was taking place and I did nothing,’鈥� Lee said.
鈥淵ou learn about things like, after the Holocaust, you see the phrase 鈥榥ever again,鈥� and I didn鈥檛 want to just stand by and watch this horrible conflict unfold and do nothing.鈥�
They decided on D.C. chef and humanitarian Jose Andres鈥櫬犅燼fter considering different options. Not only because Andres is a hometown hero, but also because it was an organized and structured effort.
The Hedricks were responsible for their own airfare, lodging and transport. Lee said they used some frequent flyer miles, 鈥渨e patched together some other things, and thankfully, it鈥檚 pretty inexpensive in Eastern Europe.鈥�
Meredith went to Poland first, landing in Warsaw, then took a 6-hour train ride to get to the border city of Przemysl. For Lee, it was a 4-hour drive in a rented car.
Meredith said Przemysl is a picturesque European locale with cafes and old streets 鈥� an old city with little hint of the war next door.
鈥淏ut then you go to the train station, and it鈥檚 really apparent,鈥� Meredith said. 鈥淵ou walk in, there鈥檚 crowds of people. There鈥檚 military handing out basic supplies, keeping everything orderly. There鈥檚 people with yellow vests with the languages written on their back, what they speak.鈥�
鈥淵ou go to the platform, there was the army there handing out immediate needs, for feminine products, toys for kids. Basic necessities 鈥� except for food.鈥�
Which is where World Central Kitchen comes in.
Meredith said World Central Kitchen had two stations at the train station: one outside and one immediately on a platform. They had also converted an industrial area into a big kitchen 鈥� operations at which will be paused at the end of July.
She was at the humanitarian center, an old converted shopping center called Tesco, roughly equivalent to a Target or Walmart.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where the refugees can spend a couple hours or overnight while they鈥檙e deciding what their next moves are,鈥� Meredith said.
While Meredith worked in distribution, Lee worked primarily in the kitchen.
鈥淲e鈥檇 spend the morning cutting up vegetables then we鈥檇 also make panini sandwiches,鈥� Lee said, estimating that they鈥檇 make 4,000 to 5,000 sandwiches a day. Then drivers would take all the hot food and sandwiches, and they鈥檇 send them out by truck to different distribution centers.
Lee said from 9 a.m. until 4 or 5 p.m., volunteers were making food. 鈥淎nd then I would go back, take a few hours rest, then I鈥檇 go to the train station and work from 7 p.m. to 11, 11:30 p.m.鈥�
At the train station, there was a mix of people coming into Poland from Ukraine, but also going back to Ukraine. Lee said they had different reasons for going back to Kyiv or Lviv: to visit family, to see their husbands.
鈥淭he scene is pretty chaotic, because you quickly realize it鈥檚 only women and children, all the men are back in Ukraine,鈥� Lee said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 women with one kid, two kids, five kids, a range of ages 鈥� it鈥檚 pretty hectic because they鈥檙e trying to get their space in line, and we鈥檙e also trying to get them food. So some of them could come up to the distribution center and get food. Then later on, we鈥檇 actually walk around with food and hand out water, apples, bananas and sandwiches. So it鈥檚 a pretty chaotic scene at the train station.鈥�
Shortly before speaking with 草莓传媒, the Hedricks received an email from World Central Kitchen: “With the incredible support of nearly 1,500 volunteers like you, we have served more than 11.5 million meals to refugees in Poland. Thank you for making this work possible.”
Those meals weren鈥檛 cheap fare either, Meredith said. 鈥淭hey really have high standards as far as the products and the food that they鈥檙e using.鈥�
But that didn鈥檛 stop Lee from making a sort of 鈥淗appy Meal鈥� for refugees.
鈥淲e鈥檝e all probably single-parented for some period of time before, and you realize that, after eight hours or maybe a couple of days or so, you get really worn down,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淏ut you realize that these moms are spending two months or three months taking care of their children, and they鈥檙e probably exhausted.鈥�
鈥淵ou see a lot of young kids come through, so we decided to go to the toy store and just buy stuffed animals and Matchbox cars. So when little kids would come through, we鈥檇 give them an option of a couple different toys.鈥�
They also bought a bunch of candy, but: 鈥淲e realized the old men were taking all the candy.鈥�
Which led to them making small containers of candy and a few other things for kids. 鈥淎nd that seemed to work out really well,鈥� Lee said.
Even the senior citizens liked the finger puppets.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to give them a smile, a healthy meal, to try to make them feel a little more human. And we want to give them some toys just, make that journey a little bit easier,鈥� Lee said.
Meredith added: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not just there serving food, you鈥檙e developing relationships.鈥�
She said they鈥檙e hoping to return when they have a chance. Possibly next year.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think this is anything that鈥檚 going to resolve itself soon,鈥� Meredith said. 鈥淏ut I do think we have an opportunity to help here.鈥�
She pointed to聽, which does emergency evacuations out of Ukraine, and noted that actor Liev Schreiber鈥檚聽聽vets organizations that are donating to Ukraine to make sure that the money is going to where it鈥檚 supposed to.
There are other ways to help as well.
鈥淯krainian families are starting to settle here,鈥� Meredith said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e on different volunteer sites, you can see ways to help them. For example, they need household goods and toiletries, they need help registering in schools. They need help, they need people to take them around the city to show them the city. So those are some ways you can get involved.鈥�
