Various police departments across the state donate ballistic vests to Ukraine freedom fighters
McHenry County — Recently, the McHenry Police Department announced that they had received notice from the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police (ILACP) regarding a need for ballistic vests to help Ukrainians stay safe while defending their country.
“We are proud to answer this call for vests! On March 14, 2022, the McHenry Police Department shipped 77 retired ballistic vests to Ukraine to help keep their citizens safe as they defend their country and homes,” said the McHenry Police Department in a statement.
Similarly in Kane County, East Dundee Police Chief Jim Kruger stated that his police department had teamed up with the Rotary Club of Carpentersville to ship old, expired ballistic vests to Ukraine.
“The vests will be used to protect volunteer Rotarians and Rotaract members dispersing food to refugees. God speed,” said Kruger.
According to the ILACP, the movement started when retired Mokena Police Chief Steven Vaccaro came up with the idea upon hearing from his sister, Jennifer Doloski, that the head of the adoption agency where she and her husband had worked with to adopt their three sons, was killed by sniper fire on Feb. 26 in Kyiv.
Back in 2012, the Doloskis traveled to Ukraine and adopted their son, Joshua, from Mykolaiv, a region on the Black Sea in the southern part of the country.
The couple explained that upon the death of Joshua’s mother, he was placed in an orphanage due to his complex medical needs, while his older brother was placed in foster care and later adopted by a Ukrainian family.
Today, Joshua is a busy 16-year-old high school student who continues to receive care at Shriners Hospital for Children in Chicago.
While finalizing Joshua’s adoption, the Doloskis met another boy they eventually named Caleb that they were eager to also adopt. However, Jennifer stated that it would be four years before he was legally available for adoption.
In 2016, the couple learned that Caleb, along with his younger brother, David, were both available for adoption. Jennifer once again made the trip to Ukraine so that the two brothers could join the Doloski family.
While Caleb, 16, required medical attention upon his arrival to the United States, Jennifer says that he and David, 13, are currently honor roll students.
Following the adoption of the three boys, Jennifer began working for Hand of Help in Adoption, the Ukrainian facilitation team that helped her and her husband (and hundreds of other families) bring their children home.
On Feb. 26, Serge Zevlever, 62, the founder of Hand of Help in Adoption, was killed on the streets of Kyiv. Despite holding dual Ukrainian and American citizenships, Zevlever chose to stay in Ukraine during Russia’s invasion of the country, to continue to oversee adoptions.
Additionally, before his death, Zevlever and his wife were aiding neighbors and the government officials with whom he had worked for more than 25 years.
On the morning of March 5, one of the team members from Hand of Help in Adoption sent a request to his American clients for bulletproof vests to supply to volunteer combatants.
The vests are currently being shipped to groups in Wroclaw, Poland who are helping to move supplies into Ukraine.
Cook County’s Orland Park Police Department just recently shipped their surplus of ballistic vests to Poland.
“We are happy to do whatever we can to help with this urgent request,” said Orland Park Police Chief Joe Mitchell. “In addition to the vest donation, the Village of Orland Park is organizing a humanitarian aid delivery to the region to provide much needed supplies for Ukrainian women and children in Poland.”
