By Denise Crosby
Nine months ago, as the war in Ukraine dominated headlines in its infant but still-brutal stage, Rene Koehler became Fox Valley's humanitarian face when she flew out of Aurora Municipal Airport on March 29 with more than two dozen large duffle bags filled with desperately-needed items she had collected for those fighting to protect their homeland against Russian invaders.
After arriving in New York on the small aircraft, compliments of Sugar Grove-based revv aviation and its parent company CL Enterprises, Koehler boarded a larger plane at JFK International that took this trained disaster relief volunteer and her supplies to Poland.
From there, she and fellow team members from Crisis Response International set up their humanitarian shop in an abandoned hospital south of Lviv in Ukraine that had been turned into a refugee center offering sanctuary for close to 200 mostly women and children.
Her adrenaline-filled adventure was at times scary and uncertain, but mostly filled with "such joy in helping" the Ukrainian people who had so little but appreciated so much.
And now nine months later, with the conflict still raging, Koehler is very aware of the war fatigue that has set in, even as winter only adds to the brutality heaped upon the people she quickly learned to love and respect.
Koehler's nearly two weeks in Ukraine were life-changing. And although she has no plans to return, the 61-year-old estate seller and mother of three sons ― two in the military ― maintains close contact with other Crisis Response International teams that spent recent "waves" in the shattered but remarkably resilient country.
In the first week of December CRI pulled its most recent team out of Ukraine because the winter is so brutal and the situation has become "too dangerous," Koehler told me.
The group continues to raise donations for individual families when the call goes out there is a need. For example, within an hour her team pulled together enough money to purchase a solar generator for a mother with two children who had no way of heating her home.
"It came from an underground market, so we do continue to have ties like that," she said. "We chip in and get it done."
In the meantime, Koehler is waging another kind of war.
In October, after experiencing shortness of breath that led to an emergency room visit, test results showed she has pancreatic cancer.
When I caught up with Koehler on Dec. 14, she was at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, having just undergone a complex 10-hour surgery that removed parts or all of a few internal organs and rerouted other organs.
Like the first time I met her in March, I was in awe of Koehler's courage, her positive outlook and her capacity to think outside herself. Rather than focus on the challenges she's going through, Koehler wanted to talk about the incredible spirit of the Ukrainian people she met earlier this year.
Whenever she hears the song, "The Lord Bless You and Keep You," Koehler says she remembers those she met in that abandoned Ukrainian hospital and how, despite the chaos in their lives, they filled the rafters of that old building with their voices of gratitude and praise.
"We were crying. They were crying," she recalled. "Whenever I hear that song, I still get emotional."
When I asked Koehler if she was OK with mentioning her medical situation, she paused only briefly before answering with an affirmative.
"I know the power of prayer," she said. "And right now, I need all the prayers I can get."
This column was part of the "Faces of 2022" series in the Beacon-News, Aurora, Ill. and distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
Nine months ago, as the war in Ukraine dominated headlines in its infant but still-brutal stage, Rene Koehler became Fox Valley's humanitarian face when she flew out of Aurora Municipal Airport on March 29 with more than two dozen large duffle bags filled with desperately-needed items she had collected for those fighting to protect their homeland against Russian invaders.
After arriving in New York on the small aircraft, compliments of Sugar Grove-based revv aviation and its parent company CL Enterprises, Koehler boarded a larger plane at JFK International that took this trained disaster relief volunteer and her supplies to Poland.
From there, she and fellow team members from Crisis Response International set up their humanitarian shop in an abandoned hospital south of Lviv in Ukraine that had been turned into a refugee center offering sanctuary for close to 200 mostly women and children.
Her adrenaline-filled adventure was at times scary and uncertain, but mostly filled with "such joy in helping" the Ukrainian people who had so little but appreciated so much.
And now nine months later, with the conflict still raging, Koehler is very aware of the war fatigue that has set in, even as winter only adds to the brutality heaped upon the people she quickly learned to love and respect.
Koehler's nearly two weeks in Ukraine were life-changing. And although she has no plans to return, the 61-year-old estate seller and mother of three sons ― two in the military ― maintains close contact with other Crisis Response International teams that spent recent "waves" in the shattered but remarkably resilient country.
In the first week of December CRI pulled its most recent team out of Ukraine because the winter is so brutal and the situation has become "too dangerous," Koehler told me.
The group continues to raise donations for individual families when the call goes out there is a need. For example, within an hour her team pulled together enough money to purchase a solar generator for a mother with two children who had no way of heating her home.
"It came from an underground market, so we do continue to have ties like that," she said. "We chip in and get it done."
In the meantime, Koehler is waging another kind of war.
In October, after experiencing shortness of breath that led to an emergency room visit, test results showed she has pancreatic cancer.
When I caught up with Koehler on Dec. 14, she was at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, having just undergone a complex 10-hour surgery that removed parts or all of a few internal organs and rerouted other organs.
Like the first time I met her in March, I was in awe of Koehler's courage, her positive outlook and her capacity to think outside herself. Rather than focus on the challenges she's going through, Koehler wanted to talk about the incredible spirit of the Ukrainian people she met earlier this year.
Whenever she hears the song, "The Lord Bless You and Keep You," Koehler says she remembers those she met in that abandoned Ukrainian hospital and how, despite the chaos in their lives, they filled the rafters of that old building with their voices of gratitude and praise.
"We were crying. They were crying," she recalled. "Whenever I hear that song, I still get emotional."
When I asked Koehler if she was OK with mentioning her medical situation, she paused only briefly before answering with an affirmative.
"I know the power of prayer," she said. "And right now, I need all the prayers I can get."
This column was part of the "Faces of 2022" series in the Beacon-News, Aurora, Ill. and distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
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