Community members in St. John’s are rallying to replace figure skates stolen from an 11-year-old Ukrainian girl who fled the war in her country this summer to Newfoundland.
Lisa Martynenko is shown in this undated handout photo.HO/The Canadian Press
Michael Holden, a St. John’s man who has helped the girl and her family settle into their new home, said the skates were the only thing Lisa Martynenko took with her when her family left their home behind earlier this year.
He said in an interview today that the skates were stolen early Wednesday from the Martynenko family’s car after their mother returned home from the airport, where she helped welcome 187 more Ukrainians to Newfoundland.
Holden said Lisa was a competitive figure skater in Ukraine, and she’s continued training and competing in her new home of St. John’s, where the local figure skating club has sponsored her membership.
He said he was inundated with messages from community members wanting to help as soon as he posted word about the stolen skates on social media Wednesday.
Skates for serious figure skaters are expensive, but as of 2 p.m. today, an online crowdfunding campaign had raised $795 of its $2,000 goal just hours after the appeal was posted.