Alice Rampton has made 34 trips across the North Atlantic Ocean to visit Ukraine since 1992. Each time, she’s gone to provide aid to Uzhhorod — a city on the border with Slovakia still untouched by Russian missiles in the ongoing war — which has close ties with her hometown of Corvallis.
Rampton will make the flight again in September as the conflict continues, along with 16 other volunteers, to bring crucial supplies and assistance to the people of Uzhhorod.
“We want to keep offering them hope that we’re behind them,” she said. “We’re not going to leave them alone during this time.”
Founded in 1989, the Corvallis Sister City Association has connected Corvallis with other parts of the world for decades. Uzhhorod was Corvallis’ first sister city, a relationship established the same year as the association. The nonprofit is also connected with Gondar, Ethiopia.
When they visit this fall, the group will connect with several programs they fund, including for child services and support, check the needs of their participants in Ukraine and bring students to paint a mural at one of the public schools, Rampton said.
Over the years, Corvallis and Uzhhorod have exchanged students, business leaders and artists, to help the two cities share culture and insights. The nonprofit regularly holds fundraisers and sends donations to partners in Uzhhorod. Rampton also co-directs the organization’s TOUCH Project, a sponsorship program providing youth services to over 450 children in Ukraine.
The nonprofit has done outreach work since its founding, but the relationship changed when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Corvallis Sister City Association members took news of the war hard. Rampton, who’s served with the nonprofit for over 30 years, was distraught to see the country she’d fallen in love with come to ruin.
“I was sick,” said Rampton. “We were all just heartbroken.”
With conditions in Ukraine rapidly changing, the organization shifted its focus to address the needs of citizens of Uzhhorod, refugees and displaced people who came to the city.
“Right now, it’s like: How do we feed these people? Where are we going to put them?” said Rampton.
People from across Oregon and the country contributed to the nonprofit’s relief fund, according to Rampton. Of the $500,000 raised, the nonprofit has spent around $400,000 on supplies, cookware, generators and more.
One of the nonprofit’s main priorities was shipping medical supplies. Residents from across Corvallis donated sewing kits, Q-tips and gauze that were packed into 600 medical kits. The organization has been sending supplies since 1994 but ramped up its efforts to respond to the pressure on the city after Russia invaded, Rampton said.
After over two years of war, Rampton said the nonprofit’s partners in Uzhhorod are growing weary.
“We are in a safer region of our country, thank God.” Maria Kron, who lives in Uzhhorod and works with the Sister Cities program, said in a statement shared by the nonprofit.
“Every time the alarm sounds, we realize at that moment that somewhere in Ukraine, soldiers in the military, young children, adults and animals are dying.”
Eastern Ukrainian cities such as Bakhmut and Mariupol have borne the brunt of the destruction, said Jamon Van Den Hoek, an associate professor of geography at Oregon State University. Uzhhorod has become a checkpoint for refugees seeking asylum in Slovakia and other countries, Van Den Hoek said.
According to the United Nations refugee agency, nearly 3.7 million people have been displaced from their homes as of February. Rampton said thousands have settled in Uzhhorod, leaving the city’s infrastructure “strained.”
Van Den Hoek, who has worked with The New York Times to map the destruction in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, said organizations like Sister Cities help to bring crucial resources overseas.
“To not feel like they’ve been forgotten is extremely important,” he said.
Those who have joined the nonprofit are passionate about the work they do, members said. April Fisher, who joined shortly after the Russian invasion, said she did it to support people in crisis.
“It’s important for people to take care of other people,” said Fisher, who is now the group’s vice chair.
Some of the longest serving members, Rampton and her husband have never regretted the small entry fee they paid to join all those years ago.
“Just a $15 check changed our life,” she said.
— Wesley Ince, Ontario High School