Piscataquis County Theater Film Screenings Benefit Ukraine Medical Efforts

DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine – The Center Theater in Dover-Foxcroft will host two screenings of the film “Red Dawn” next weekend, with admission by donation, which will benefit an international non-profit organization providing aid to Ukraine .
One of the theater’s local donors, who asked to remain anonymous, suggested the idea of showing the film as a way to raise money for relief efforts, executive director Patrick Myers said.
The donor covered the cost of film royalties and rental fees so donations could go directly to Doctors Without Borders, he said. The organization provides medical care in humanitarian crises around the world.
“Red Dawn” will screen at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 13 at the Center Theater, 20 East Main St. The film premiered in 1984 and tells the story of a small group of Colorado high school students who resist a fictitious invasion. of the United States by the Russian army. Although the theater does not expect the screenings and donations to have a colossal effect, it is one way for a small community to do something positive in response to the crisis in Ukraine.
“I think a lot of us here in rural Maine wish we could do more,” Myers said. “Even being able to do this little thing means a lot to us locally.”
Myers reached out to a few hundred theaters across the country to share the idea. A few dozen, from places like Vermont and Colorado, responded, expressing curiosity and interest, he said.
“Who knows what will happen,” he said, adding that he hopes for as big a turnout as possible. “I would be surprised if we didn’t start seeing screenings all over the country.”
Doctors Without Borders, or Doctors Without Borders, was founded in Paris, France, in 1971, and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It has offices in countries around the world.
The organization sends teams to Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to help Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war. Emergency teams are already on the Ukraine-Poland border, delivering essential supplies to people in need and trying to reach those in Ukraine, according to his website. Médecins Sans Frontières is also ready to intervene in Russia and Belarus.
“Our teams at border checkpoints between Ukraine and Poland are seeing people crossing on foot, by car and by bus – many of them tired and exhausted, and some with children as young as 25 days old,” says website.
After spending long hours, sometimes days, waiting in line to cross the border, many Ukrainian refugees arrive dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia, the organization said.
In Mariupol, a city in eastern Ukraine, teams from Doctors Without Borders distributed medical kits to treat war-wounded, according to the website. The teams also provided training in telemedicine for trauma care to 30 surgeons in eastern Ukraine.
To make a donation directly to Médecins Sans Frontières, visit website.