W&L Owner, Wife, Helping Ukrainians Flee
Photos: W&L Subaru
NORTHUMBERLAND – A Valley business owner and his wife of Romanian descent has been stepping up in a big way to help Ukrainians flee from the Russian invasion.
Andy Long of W&L Dealerships and his wife Sylvia so far have donated thousands of dollars to help people flee from Ukraine, “We flew a family to Spain, to Madrid. They were in a bad way and my wife found them on a website. We reached out and they’re with family now and safe, but the husband had to stay back.”
That story is just one of many where the Longs have helped out with either transportation, hotels, or other aid. Long says he’s not done, as W&L Dealerships themselves will start getting involved, “I think we’re going to donate $250 for every vehicle sold. We think we’ve found the charity that were going to donate to that will go directly toward housing refugees. We’re going to take the profit out of our proceeds and that’s going to go into a fund that we hold here until we’re done for the month. We possibly, I think, may match that as a company. We’re thinking we can generate anywhere from $25-35,000.”
Long says this is simply the right thing to do and the world needs a little love right now, “We’re fortunate to be blessed with a good company and we have the means to be able to help. I mean, why wouldn’t you want to help? Its humanity and empathy. These families lose their homes and they have nothing, and to be honest with you, some of them don’t know where to go or where to start.”
Sylvia Long’s brother and parents are still living in Romania, a place to which many Ukrainians have fled lately.
