In June of 2022, BTI founder Dave Kovalchick met with Eric Bartsch, an American living in Kosice, Slovakia. They had been in communication for months and together they visited a shelter for Ukrainian refugees in the city of Presov, just north of Kosice. They found 80 children and 60 women living in this shelter which was a former prison, modified to house these people. They were receiving some food from the Slovak government but otherwise, the conditions were not good. Only 3 bathrooms for 140 people and just 1 stove in the kitchen. So Dave and Eric purchased 2 charcoal grills to help with added cooking space and 5 outdoor camping showers for the children to use in the summer.
They also hosted a BBQ to show the people how to use the grills. The children loved learning how to cook and make a proper American style BBQ. We also had some games for the kids to play including squirt gun and water balloon battles. It was a great day and inspired Eric to become a permanent part of BTI and to continue assistance at this shelter.
After leaving Slovakia, Dave provided some donation money to the coordinator of this shelter in order to pay for water park passes for the children to use all summer and also for bus passes for the women who needed transport to work.
Comments