Viktory For Kids

Petrenko and his all-star cast raise
more than $135,000 for charity

It was a night to remember from a small suburban town in Western Connecticut to a clinic for children in Odessa, Ukraine. World & Olympic Champion Viktor Petrenko and his all-star cast of National, World and Olympic skating champions raised more than $135,000 in donations and medical care equipment in Petrenko’s, “WESTERN UNION VIKTORY 4 KIDS” charity skating show.

The show benefited children who are still being affected by the 1986 nuclear explosion in Chornobyl, Ukraine.

“VIKTORY 4 KIDS” was performed at the Danbury Ice Arena in Danbury, Connecticut on Saturday, October 4, 2003 and featured skating’s brightest stars including: World and Olympic Champion Brian Boitano; two-time Olympic Pairs Champion Ekaterina Gordeeva; Olympic Pairs Champions Oksana Kazakova & Artur Dmitriev; Olympic Champion Illia Kulik; two-time World Champion and Olympic Silver Medalist Evgeni Plushenko; five-time U.S. National Dance Champions Naomi Lang & Peter Tchernyshev; U.S. National Champion and Olympic Bronze Medalist Timothy Goebel; World Silver Medalist Elena Sokolova; Ukrainian National Ice Dance Champions Elena Grushina & Ruslan Goncharov; and the Acrobatic team of Vladimir Besedin & Oleskiy Polischuk.

“I have seen firsthand the difference that the first VIKTORY FOR KIDS made in the lives of newborn children in Ukraine, and it is really amazing,” Petrenko said. “You would never imagine how far a little kindness and generosity can go. Thank you to everyone involved in putting VIKTORY FOR KIDS together and to all those people who purchased the tickets and came to see the show."

Super Model Carol Alt, who is often called the “most beautiful woman in the world”, and has appeared on many magazine covers, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and films, emceed the show. Ms. Alt, a personal friend of Viktor and Nina Petrenko, emceed to show her support for Petrenko’s “Viktory 4 Kids” initiative to provide life-saving medical aid to children and newborns affected by the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

Proceeds from the one-night-only benefit performance will go to purchase medical technology for a children’s hospital in Petrenko’s hometown of Odessa, Ukraine, which harbors many evacuees from the Chornobyl-disaster region.

Petrenko initiated the “VIKTORY 4 KIDS” campaign in 2001 in a broad-based effort to bring life-saving relief to his homeland.

“Tonight was indeed a ‘victory for kids,’ ” said Petrenko. “I want to thank my fellow skaters, who gave their time, and the sponsors and the people of Connecticut for supporting the ‘Viktory for Kids’ campaign.”

Acuson Company, a division of Siemens Corporation, donated a powerful XP Ultrasound for the Odessa Regional Children’s Hospital as a gesture of support to Petrenko and “Viktory for Kids.”

"I am so happy the show was such as success. I am so honored that so many of my friends and fellow skaters would rally around this cause. I am grateful to everyone who made this night possible," Petrenko said.

Petrenko initiated the “VIKTORY 4 KIDS” campaign in 2001 in a broad-based effort to bring life-saving relief to his homeland. The nuclear disaster in Chornobyl still devastates the lives of people in Ukraine and causing the country to have one of the highest infant mortality rates in Europe.

The inaugural “VIKTORY 4 KIDS” in 2001 raised over $100,000; the funds were used to build a neonatal intensive care unit in the Children’s Hospital in Viktor Petrenko’s hometown of Odessa, Ukraine.

This year the "VIKTORY 4 KIDS" is working to provide training and new technology to save children, who are born with congenital heart defects, which is averaging over 6,000 per year in Ukraine. In addition to expanding cancer screening programs for both adults and children from the contaminated zones.

“It is an honor for me to be able to give something back to my home country,” Petrenko said. “Being a father, I understand the importance of healthcare for all children and hope to give that opportunity to the children of Ukraine. I am also grateful to my friends in figure skating, who have dedicated their efforts to this cause,” he added.

All proceeds from the event benefited the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund (CCRF), an award-winning charity that has delivered over $50 million dollars worth of medical technology and humanitarian aid to children’s hospitals and orphanages in Ukraine.