03/15/2022
I have a favor to ask.
On March 21st I will be traveling to Przemysl, Poland. I will be volunteering with the non-profit World Central Kitchen, feeding Ukrainian refugees.
Never in my life have I felt so strongly about needing to do something.
As many of you know, I am Jewish. I am fortunate to be here today because my great grandparents were able to flee persecution in Eastern Europe. Many of my family members weren’t able to leave and, sadly, were murdered in the holocaust.
Both of my paternal grandparents’ side of our family lived in shtetls in the region of Kyiv. My maternal grandfather’s side of our family lived in Drohobych, an area near Lviv. Most of my ancestors lived in the area that is now Ukraine.
My heart hurts everyday
due to Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine. I follow the news daily with sadness and pain for the people of Ukraine, my people.
Immediately I felt a need to do something, to become involved in some way. Several weeks ago I watched a news story of several Ukrainian women working in churches cooking food for soldiers. I thought, how amazing it would be to go and help feed people in need. Two days later José Andrés was on the news, setting up a kitchen in Przemysl, Poland to feed Ukrainian refugees through his nonprofit, World Central Kitchen. I immediately knew what I had to do, I sent them an email that day.
Over the last few weeks I have corresponded with World Central Kitchen and just last week got accepted as a volunteer at the Przemysl site. I am responsible for all expenses related to the trip, including travel and accommodations. I have purchased my plane tickets and am in the process of finalizing additional arrangements. I have family in Europe and friends in Poland. They are a tremendous resource and have been very helpful as I navigate the best choices for my journey to assist in any way I can, but especially to Feed The People and be a grounding presence, even if for just a moment.
There is a huge need for volunteers in Poland, to help with the millions of refugees who have crossed fleeing the war in Ukraine. We easily see that watching or listening to the news, and my friends in Poland have confirmed this need.
My business, The Gyro Spot closed abruptly in June 2021. The city’s sewer line backed up into my restaurant and flooded The Gyro Spot with raw sewage. I was forced to throw away thousands of dollars worth of products. Everything had to be removed and sanitized. The walls, floors and sub flooring were torn out to be replaced. The city refuses to accept any amount of responsibility and my insurance company has denied making any payment on the claim. I have spent most of my life’s savings and taken out business and personal loans that will take years to repay. Most of the repairs have been completed. I plan to re-open in May 2022, almost a full year since the flood. You can imagine, this has been incredibly difficult for me financially.
Will you help support me on my mission to Poland, as well as the final push to re-open The Gyro Spot?
I have gift cards available to The Gyro Spot, which you can purchase online here:
https://squareup.com/gift/76YNTH3N2J8WP/order
For friends and family who would like to support the mission and re-opening of The Gyro Spot without purchasing a gift card, you may send funds directly through Facebook Pay:
https://m.me/pay/Kfro50/
Or Venmo:
https://venmo.com/code?user_id=2979409443160064165&created=1647279723.116702&printed=1
Or paypal:
https://www.paypal.me/kfro50
You could also make a donation directly to World Central Kitchen, the organization I am volunteering with.
https://donate.wck.org/give/396273/ #!/donation/checkout
And for a fun in-person opportunity, weather and time permitting, I will be having a yard sale this coming weekend. My intention is to part with many of my worldly possessions in hopes to raise funds for this mission, so that I may be of aid to those devastated by war in Ukraine.
Keep an eye out for details about the yard sale later this week.
If you have more ideas on how to support this mission, I invite you to reach out to me.
If you are unable to support financially, but would like to support this mission. Please feel free to like and share this post.
Thank you,
Kenny Trobman
