In Kirovohrad region, the mother of a fallen war hero donated 500,000 hryvnias for the renovation of a sports hall

A resident of Bezvodnya village in Sokolivska community, Kropyvnytskyi district, Tetiana Shcherban, donated the funds she received from the state as compensation for the loss of her son in the Russo-Ukrainian war for the renovation of the sports hall in Ivanivka village school, where the soldier graduated and where his son and nieces currently study. The old floor is being replaced with a new one in the sports hall. This was reported by Sokolivska village council.

Dmytro Shcherban grew up in a large family in Bezvodnya village and attended school in the neighboring Ivanivka village. When the full-scale invasion began, he returned from abroad where he worked and went to defend his homeland. He was killed in battle in Luhansk region in November 2022.

In memory of the soldier, a memorial plaque was installed on the facade of the local school.

"It was my mother's decision to renovate the floor in the sports hall of Ivanivka school. She says, 'We can't bring our son back, but his memory will remain for the children...'" says Dmytro Shcherban's sister, Irina.

Although cosmetic repairs are done in the premises of Ivanivka school before the start of each academic year, the floor in the sports hall has not been repaired for over 50 years, according to the branch director Vitaliy Luchanov.

Irina Kuchynska, Dmytro Shcherban's sister, approached us with a proposal to carry out major repairs to the floor in the sports hall. Dima studied in our school, and now his son and nieces study here, and his sister Irina also worked here, so we agreed to their decision to do such a deed. The cost of the work amounted to almost half a million hryvnias. The old floor in the sports hall has been completely removed and a new wooden floor is being laid, following the proper technology with a two-layer structure and an air cushion," says Vitaliy Luchanov.

In Ivanivka, it is not the first case when mothers invest the funds received as compensation for their fallen sons in social projects. Galyna Buzulyak, a resident of Ivanivka, whose son was killed in the ATO in 2014, paid for the arrangement of a children's playground for rural children and installed a memorial plaque on the school building for another fallen local defender, Serhiy Hrytsa.

The renovation is planned to be completed by August, and on September 1, Ivanivka school will welcome its students with renovated and bright classrooms and a sports hall. The family of Dmytro Shcherban, his mother, and two sisters, hope that their youngest son and brother, Ruslan, who is currently defending the homeland from the enemy, will come from the front to this solemn event.