FOCUS : EMPLOYEE HEROES
IRISHA TODERICI , GLOBAL MARKETING AUTOMATION & LEAD MANAGEMENT , ROMANIA Recently , in a clothing store in Bucharest , Irisha Toderici heard a five-year-old refugee from Odesa begging his mom for a shirt with a picture of Sonic , the blue superhero hedgehog who can run at supersonic speeds .
When his mom told him there were other more important things to buy — and that hopefully his dad back in Ukraine could send clothes — the boy said he needed the shirt so he could use Sonic speed and be with his mom and dad always . Toderici immediately offered to buy the shirt .
“ He even told me I am like a superhero lady ,” she said of the boy .
He ’ s not wrong : Toderici — who grew up in Moldova attending a Russian high school and has Ukrainian roots — has helped organize housing and food for relatives and former HP colleagues who have had to flee . When she sees refugees in Bucharest , she is also drawn to help . Sometimes it ’ s paying the bill for them in grocery stores ; other times it might be to serve as translator for people buying train tickets .
“ This is very personal for me , because having Ukrainian roots I feel like this could be me in their place ,” she says . “ I like helping specific people , not just giving help to an organization .”
Clockwise from right , Zuzana Kočanová ( left ) and Vincent Jamin organize supplies at a refugee center in Prague ; transporting food to the center ; Martin Povolný , below , with a knife and cutting board .
Irisha Toderici , middle , with her son Sasha and HP colleague Ioana Stiuliuc , far left , on an outing to the Bucharest Zoo with two Ukrainian refugee families .
ZUZANA KOČANOVÁ , SENIOR IT PROJECT MANAGER , CZECH REPUBLIC Like a lot of people , Zuzana Kočanová sent money to help refugees . But that wasn ’ t enough and she soon registered in several different volunteer databases after securing the support of her manager and director .
Her first job : loading cars at a local church with food and clothing on a Saturday . The next day she did an eight-hour shift preparing and serving food to refugees at KACPU , the Czech Republic ’ s Regional Assistance Center for Help and Assistance to Ukraine . This involved everything from making sandwiches to finding the right-size diapers for babies , as well as suitable baby food .
She subsequently returned to KACPU to do a night shift from 2 a . m . to 6 a . m ., and another shift from 10 p . m . to 6 a . m ., so she wouldn ’ t need to miss work . The hot tea , coffee , and soup were especially appreciated during the frigid temperatures , she says , and she liked having contact both with the refugees as well as with medics from the Red Cross and interpreters .
“ It was also good to know what was really happening ,” she says , seeing , for example , moms with kids and just small plastic bags of belongings . But the biggest highlight : “ The smile on the refugees ’ faces when you helped them .”
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF IRISHA TODERICI ( LEFT )
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