Efforts are underway to get body armor to Ukraine
The image stayed with John Scarinza: more than 130 empty baby carriages lined up in a parking lot to represent children who had been killed in Ukraine.To get more news about
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It flashed across his TV screen at 3 a.m. on a sleepless night, alongside a report of the bombing of the Mariupol theater. By the morning, a plan was taking shape in his mind.
Scarinza, a retired State Police troop commander from Twin Mountain, had two bulletproof vests in his closet, and, he thought, if he could get the word out to other retired law enforcement officers, he’d find more. With enough, he hoped he could help address the ongoing need for military equipment in Ukraine.These efforts in the North Country to aid those staying to fight in Ukraine come as the question of receiving Ukrainian refugees in the state remains unanswered.
Last month, Rep. Annie Kuster, along with other lawmakers, wrote to President Joe Biden, pushing the administration to put a plan in place for receiving refugees. They point to the 3 million refugees who have already fled the country, with 4 million more expected to follow.
While Biden increased the cap on refugees last year, from just 15,000 to 62,500, only 11,411 people were actually resettled in the country – “the lowest since we started tracking in 1975,” lawmakers wrote. That cap is even higher now, at 231,000, but as of late February, “only 6,494 individuals have been resettled,” lawmakers said in their letter.
Given the invasion of Ukraine, they say the administration needs to act quickly.
Ascentria Care Alliance is one of the main resettlement agencies in the state. “We are anxiously awaiting word from our national partner about this, but so far we haven’t received any direction,” said Jeffrey Kinney, a spokesperson for the organization, in an email.
Absent an answer to the refugee question, grassroots efforts to aid Ukraine have advanced. Some retired military personnel are heading to Ukraine to volunteer. Scarinza, the retired troop commander, said organizing the vest drive was a way to combat the feeling of helplessness.
“I’m thinking I probably have a used ballistic vest in my closet. I’ll throw it in a box and ship it over there. That’s how it got started,” Scarinza said. “The vests expire after five years in the U.S. They’re not serviceable to be worn by current law enforcement personnel because of their expiration dates. Is there anything wrong with them? In many cases, not at all – which is why I had two hanging in my back closet.”He enlisted Brian Valerino, the Coos County sheriff, to help collect vests from the North Country. So far, Valerino said, they’ve collected about 15 to 20 .
“One vest is one vest, and hopefully one vest saves one life over there,” he said. “You can’t help but feel for the Ukrainian people. They’re trying to do the best they can for their country.”
Scarinza agreed. “Even if some of the lighter-weight vests don’t end up on the front lines, if I was a first responder, if I was a medic, having even a lighter vest would hopefully protect against shrapnel. Anything has got to be better than nothing,” Scarinza said.
New, the vests can cost anywhere between $750 and $1,000, Scarinza estimated. They help mitigate the impact of a kick to the ribs and can protect against “edged weapons,” such as knives. When Scarinza started working as a police officer in 1979, officers didn’t have vests; a few years later, they came on the market and officers could choose to buy their own. Now, he said, “you’d be absolutely naked without one.”
