Common Sense, Ep. 65: The Wenatchee Valley YMCA

And a check in with Pastor Alex in Zaystev in the Donetsk region of Ukraine

Episode Synopsis:

In this episode we check in with Pastor Alex Zaystev in Avdiivka, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, about how things are going in country and what we can do to help his mission to bring relief and comfort to the people in his region of Ukraine. Then we head to the Wenatchee Valley YMCA and learn about what the future holds for that important organization in our community.

Intro

Hello and welcome to episode sixty-five of Common Sense! I’m Dominick Bonny and in this episode, we’re going to head to the Wenatchee Valley YMCA and speak with executive director Dorry Foster about that important organization that has benefited our community for more than one hundred years. And for more than one hundred years the YMCA has been in the same location, at the corner of Orondo and Chelan Ave. It’s a unique building, full of character, but it doesn’t fit the needs of a modern YMCA. In addition to the building being very old and too small to fit the needs of our YMCA, it’s also full of stairs and not the easiest building to navigate for anyone with mobility issues. So the Y put out a survey to see what the community wants to see in a new facility and that is out now. Now I know that surveys aren’t the most thrilling things to cover, but it’s super important that we make our voices heard because like I said the Y is an asset for the entire community and everyone who might use it in the future, young and old alike, should weigh in. That interview is coming up a bit later in this episode, but first I want to check in with Pastor Alex Zaystev in Avdiivka, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Alex was born in Ukraine and mostly raised in the Wenatchee Valley, so he has a foot in both worlds, and he is working with a network of folks in Ukraine and abroad to get as much relief as possible to Ukrainians who are suffering mightily at the hands of the Russian invaders. I interviewed Pastor Alex in episode sixty-two of Common Sense, just a few weeks ago, and since then the situation in the country has gotten more grim, as I’m sure your are aware of if you have been paying attention to anyone in the media other than Tucker Carlson, who has become Putin’s favorite mouthpiece in the West, parroting propaganda put out by RT, Sputnik and other Russian state-controlled “media” outlets. According to Alex, it’s been a rough week in the Donetsk region and stores are practically empty of food, water and supplies and it's getting more difficult to find and get food to people who need it. He also reports that folks in his network are having to siphon gas from abandoned vehicles in order to get the fuel they need to get supplies to victims of this unprovoked war of aggression against a sovereign nation. According to the US State Department, the Russians have been committing war crimes, including bombing and shelling civilian targets like schools, hospitals and maternity wards. Yet leaders in the west continue to sit on their hands, hemming and hawing while Ukrainian president Volodomir Zelensky asks point-blank for military intervention in the form of a no-fly zone or, barring that, more weapons the Ukrainians can use to fight back. And fighting back they have been doing! Casualty numbers put out by the Ukrainians and confirmed by the Nato show that the Russians are on track to lose more soldiers in four weeks in Ukraine than we lost in Afghanistan in ten years. According to reporting from The Hill, the Russians have lost between seven thousand and fifteen thousand troops in the invasion so far and have little to show for it. It begs the question, what do you call a strongman who isn’t that strong? It’s something to ponder, but now let’s hear from Alex about how things are going in his part of the country. 

Video from Alex

If you are a person of faith, please pray for Pastor Alex and his fellow Ukrainians, and if you would like to donate to support his mission of bringing food, water and hope to the people of that war-torn country you can make tax-deductible donations to his sister’s 501 c3 organization they set up here locally called Mission VHF. Here’s that information, and you can find a link to the org online in the show notes for this episode. We’ll keep you posted about new developments regarding Ukraine and Pastor Alex as this conflict continues, but now let’s go to a commercial break and come back with my interview with Dorry Foster of the Wenatchee Valley YMCA. 

Commercial break

Welcome back, let’s head on over to the Wenatchee Valley YMCA and speak with executive director Dorry Foster about new developments for that important organization! 

Interview segment

Like I said in the interview, I have been a Y member since I moved to town right out of WSU and since then a lot in my life has changed. I got married and had kids, but some things didn’t change – like my respect for and support of the YMCA. It makes fitness and healthy lifestyles more approachable and affordable than any other gym in town and it truly does serve members of this community from the cradle to the grave. Their childcare is affordable and easily accessible, and so are their summer camps, which give kids the opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy the natural beauty we are all lucky to have surrounding us in this region. And now the Y is poised to make some big changes and to do that they need our input, your input. So please go to this website either by scanning the QR code here or typing in the web address in your browser and take a few moments to fill out the survey. They really need to hear from young adults and folks with young families who will benefit from a new YMCA facility for years and even generations to come. If you didn’t catch that URL, you can also find that in the show notes for this episode, which is episode sixty-five of Common Sense. You can find it by going to NCWlife’s website and then navigating to the “full episodes” tab at the top of the page. Once you click on that just scroll down to Common Sense with Dominick Bonny and then find the episode. Right under the video will be a link to see my script and my sources. I know providing sources seems quaint and antiquated in a day in age where you can claim to be an expert and make ludicrous claims like ingesting livestock dewormer is an effective way to treat or prevent Covid-19, but I’m old school and still put stock in things like evidence and facts and backing up your claims. Although I do understand the allure of making baseless claims and using phrases like, “Everyone is saying” or “Someone told me” without identifying your sources because it’s way easier than actually doing your homework and there’s a lot of money in the supplement game, just ask folks like Alex Jones and “doctor” Joseph Mercola. We’ll have more on our modern snake oil salesmen both nationally and locally in the future, but for now that’s all for this episode of Common Sense. Join me next time and learn more about TEAMs learning center in Wenatchee!

Sources

As Russian Troop Deaths Climb, Morale Becomes an Issue, Officials Say, New York Times: https://nyti.ms/3iMY6S2

Russian generals are getting killed at an extraordinary rate, Washington Post: https://wapo.st/3NyaELm

Russian troop fatalities in Ukraine nearing losses over 10 years in Afghanistan, The Hill: https://bit.ly/3Nyqsh4

Mission VHF - Ukraine, Facebook Page for the nonprofit: https://www.facebook.com/MissionVHF

Wenatchee Valley YMCA Community Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BLCZY9D

The Most Influential Spreader of Coronavirus Misinformation Online, The New York Times: https://nyti.ms/3zTNUxQ