Dr. Maria Hrycelak of Park Ridge was honored for her service to the Ukrainian community on Sept. 23 by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when he was in New York to address the United Nations.
“I was not anticipating an award from the president of Ukraine,” Hrycelak said. “The person who nominated me is the Consul General of Ukraine in Chicago, Kostiantyn Vorona. He did it for my community service here in the Ukrainian community and also my work with the Ukrainian Medical Association with medical aide during this war.”
President Zelenskyy was in New York for the NATO conference when he honored Hrycelak. “Three or four people received awards at the Ukrainian Institute of America,” Hrycelak said.
The award was a medal from the Order of Saint Olga. “It’s given to women that have helped in the community or humanitarian or educational,” Hrycelak explained.
Hrycelak noted that she is so committed to Ukraine because her parents came from Ukraine after World War II. “I grew up speaking the language before I went to kindergarten and I still have relatives there,” she said. “It’s part of being me.”
Among the many ways Hrycelak has helped the country include starting a telemedicine teleconference during the war “so that people could get help anytime if the hospital was bombed,” Hrycelak said. “We have sent four airplanes full of medical supplies and continue to send medical supplies. We’ve helped hospitals buy equipment. We’ve bought incubators for children. We sponsored one of 52 ambulances that have been sent to Ukraine.”
These contributions are funded by donations.
Hrycelak reported that they have just received enough donations so that they are able to send a 500-gallon portable water tank to Ukraine. The tank can be sent from hospital to hospital that is facing a bad water supply due to damage from the ongoing war. The tank can be wheeled to a hospital that needs it.
When she spoke to Pioneer Press, pediatrician Hrycelak was two weeks away from retiring from the medical practice that she had for 43 years in Park Ridge. She said that she is hoping to do some traveling but will definitely continue to offer aide to the people of Ukraine.
Hrycelak, who is president of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America Foundation, will continue to serve that organization during her retirement.
For people who want to help the people of Ukraine during these difficult times, Hrycelak said that advocacy is one way to make a difference. “We need to have help from the US government, if possible,” Hrycelak said. “It’s not exactly going our way right now.”
“Everybody thinks, ‘Why help Ukraine?” Hrycelak added, declaring that “If Russia gets Ukraine, things are not going to go well.”
People can also help the country by donating funds to www.umana.org.
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Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.