Charity group sends used goods to former Soviet states
By JOANNE E. McFADDEN
Correspondent
The CIS Development
Founda-tion will be shipping its first container tomorrow to resi-dents
of Ukraine. 
The charitable organization was founded with the goal of assisting
economic development in the republics of the former Soviet Union. Dr.
Alexander
Bondarev, founder and president of CISDF, realized that people in the
CIS
would benefit from items that no longer have any use to Americans who
have
upgraded their homes and businesses with newer equipment.
Many items Americans discard are difficult to find at best and
nonexistent
at worst in the CIS. With this in mind, the CISDF has been collecting
old
computers, X-ray and dental equipment, furniture, clothing and other
supplies.
At the same time, the CISDF has been forming affiliates in the former
Soviet
republics to assist in receiving and delivering the goods to various
organizations.
Theft and the black market are major concerns in shipping to the CIS.
By
forming affiliates who will be on hand at the port in Odessa when the
shipment
arrives, the CISDF plans to eliminate these possibilities.
The CISDF has an office and warehouse in South River and has formed
a partnership with the Linden-based Express Shipping Service, Inc.
where
it will also be storing goods to be shipped in the future.
Express Shipping will be transporting the container to the port in
Newark. The CISDF expects that the shipment will take 30 days to arrive
in Ukraine. The shipment contains 200 computers, 11 dental units, seven
X-rays including two panoramic X-rays, 100 printers, copy machines, 200
boxes of clothing and shoes, and 50 boxes of household items including
children's toys.
Some of the organizations waiting for the donations are Russian
Orthodox
churches; Gratis, which helps child victims of the explosion at
Cher-nobyl;
the International Humanitarian Foundation promoting the Development of
Medicine; and the Foundation for the Children of Chernobyl Also
included
in the shipment are 100 packages addressed to specific families in
Ukraine
from American families.
Some of the items have been re-paired and converted to the proper
voltage
for the CIS. Other items will be repaired by technicians at the Kiev
Plant
of Electronic Equipment
The CISDF is expanding its role with local businesses who support the
foundation by acting as a liaison between companies who seek to expand
their business to the former Soviet Union and government officials in
the
CIS. The CISDF has been working in this capacity with the Morrison
Knudsen
Corporation, an international engineering and construction company who
has donated computers for shipment to the CIS.
The CIS is continuing to solicit donations from the public, businesses,
and educational institutions. "We need donations from people that don't
need their old technology. Instead of throwing things away, this is how
we can help people who don't have this equipment and need it to
develop,"
said Olga Welsh, marketing manager for CISDF. All donations are tax-
deductible.
* Picture: Alexander Bondarev, president of CIS Development Foundation, left; Olga Welsh, marketing manager, and Vadim Arefiev, foundation vice president, load equipment onto a truck in South River for shipment to Ukraine.
C.I.S. Development
Foundation, Inc.
77 Milltown Rd., Suite 8c, East Brunswick, NJ 08816, USA
Tel: (732) 432-7037, Fax: (732) 432-7034
E-mail: cisdf@cisdf.org
