BY MATT MACKINDER
Clarkston News Editor

Local Boy Scouts and elementary students have stepped up in recent weeks to help those affected overseas by the war in Ukraine.
A pancake breakfast hosted by Clarkston Troop 189 collected approximately $6,200 to support those displaced by the war, while Bailey Lake Elementary students raised nearly $13,000 with a coin drive.
The Benson family, a family with five children, who were a part of the Clarkston community for quite some time. Earlier this calendar year, they moved to Poland.
Since the crisis between Ukraine and Russia, they have opened their doors to refugees with some staying for just one day and others staying for several weeks. They are giving them a place to stay, feeding them, and helping them organize their next move. They are also helping with train tickets and buying them clothes.
The money collected is going directly to the family to help the refugees who are staying with them.

The pancake breakfast was held April 16 at Clarkston United Methodist Church.
“They’re putting their lives and their destinies into humanity’s hands,” Tom Snudden, one of the event coordinators, said. “We just wanted to try and be part of that, to be those hands holding them up and supporting them.”
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, over five million Ukrainians have fled Ukraine since the invasion began in February.
Oskar Benson, a Troop 189 Eagle Scout now living abroad in Kraków, Poland, inspired his fellow scouts to action when his family began welcoming refugees into their home.
The breakfast was staffed by 20 scouts working alongside adult volunteers. The youth cooked and served more than 750 pancakes over the course of the meal.
“I volunteered to help the Ukrainian people and be a part of something larger than just our community, to be a step in the right direction,” said Life Scout James LaZar.
An estimated 250 people attended the breakfast, according to the troop. However, the youth working the welcome table admitted that they lost count after a while. While the breakfast only cost $10 to attend, many patrons chose to donate much more.
One benefactor even pledged $500 to cover the food costs.
Snudden said other donations from those who could not attend in-person are still trickling in.
The proceeds from the event will be earmarked and divided between three nonprofits presently supporting Ukrainian refugees: the Ukrainian National Scouting Organization, the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Poland.
“I hope the younger scouts learned how we can go above and beyond when we work together to achieve a goal,” LaZar said.

TOP PHOTO: The youth and adults of Clarkston Boy Scout Troop 189 pose for a group photo before the breakfast rush back on April 16 as part of a fundraiser to score money for the Ukrainain relief efforts. Photo provided by Brandon Kathman