Surprise resident Rob Corbin filmed a man playing a Billy Joel tune last month. But the man knocking the keys to “Piano Man” wasn’t playing at a joyous occasion such as a wedding or a birthday celebration.
Instead, the man was playing for a group of people that may have escaped danger at Gmina Medyka, a Polish border town near Lviv, Ukraine.
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Surprise resident Rob Corbin filmed a man playing a Billy Joel tune last month.
But the man knocking the keys to “Piano Man” wasn’t playing at a joyous occasion such as a wedding or a birthday celebration.
Instead, the man was playing for a group of people that may have escaped danger at Gmina Medyka, a Polish border town near Lviv, Ukraine.
Corbin, 69, filmed the video after he decided to jump on a plane to Warsaw, rent a car and drive to Gmina Przemysl to volunteer at a refugee intake center. He traveled to Europe after he saw news images of refugees at the Polish intake center.
He spent March 7 through March 23 volunteering his time for refugees in need. He volunteered as a driver to transport Ukrainian refugees and worked at the intake center as well, he said.
“(The intake center) was like a bus station that never stopped,” Corbin said. “I mean, it was shocking. People certainly didn’t sleep well.”
On Feb. 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking a military conflict between the two countries.
The fighting has ebbed and flowed, with the latest developments over the weekend having President Joe Biden saying Russian President Vladimir Putin should be tried for war crimes following what Ukranian officials said were “the bodies of civilians have been found in macabre scenes of brutality” in Bucha, according to the Associated Press.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha, labeled the Russian actions “genocide” and called for the West to apply tougher sanctions against Russia,” the story said.
The Surprise resident described a refugee complex where people would seek shelter from the war in Ukraine. The intake center is where individuals could register to get food and supplies they needed to feed their family members and pets, he said.
“Imagine going into a Super Walmart and multiply that by two or three,” Corbin said. “We are probably talking 300,000 to 400,000 square feet,” he said.
He said a man donated land to Gmina Przemysl so officials could set up an intake and distribution center and a place where people could sleep. There were about 50 different rooms that represented different purposes such as for volunteer registration, he said.
Volunteers were given color-coded wristbands to be designated to perform different duties while in Poland.
Some volunteers would pick up Ukrainian refugees at the border who didn’t want to board the buses. Corbin took refugees via rental car to different parts of Poland as part of his volunteer work, he said.
During the trip, Corbin said he encountered former U.S. military members who were volunteering to help in the Ukraine war efforts.
“They decided to go fight,” Corbin said. “...They were going over (to Ukraine) on their own dime.”
Some volunteers weren’t doing a good job taking care of themselves and would sleep alongside the refugees.
Corbin paid for about 40 or so volunteers to have a hotel room for about two weeks. He said hotel rooms, about five minutes from the intake center, were equipped with three beds each.
“I spend the money so these guys and women could take care of themselves,” he said.
The Surprise resident was able to return safely to the Warsaw airport and onto the United States. He said he returned on March 24.
He said he feels good about his humanitarian work.
“I feel as if I’ve made a difference,” he said.
Brent Ruffner Lead News Reporter | Phoenix @AzNewsmedia
Brent Ruffner joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2021 where he writes about developments at TSMC and Maricopa County issues, including election topics.
He's written about stories that range from accusations that a Mesa monkey breeding facility is unsafe to what to do if you encounter a rattlesnake in the desert.
Community: He is a supporter of the American Cancer Society.
Education: Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University, May 2007.
Random Fact: He met former San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays at a Phoenix Firebird game after winning a contest for an autographed baseball.
Hobbies: Hiking in the woods and collecting sports memorabilia.
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