{"id":56385,"date":"2026-04-27T11:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T11:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/56385\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T11:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T11:46:09","slug":"84-year-old-lake-geneva-man-volunteers-in-ukraine-to-help-soldiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/56385\/","title":{"rendered":"84-year-old Lake Geneva man volunteers in Ukraine to help soldiers"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAKE GENEVA \u2014 Jeff Leonard is an American ally to Ukrainian troops. He has visited the country four times to provide aid during their war against Russia and left for his fifth volunteer trip on Saturday. <\/p>\n

\"jeff<\/p>\n

TMJ4<\/p>\n

Jeff Leonard (second from left) has traveled from Lake Geneva to Ukraine five times to help Ukrainian soldiers.<\/p>\n

“The soldiers are amazed that an 84-year-old retired shopkeeper in a little town in Wisconsin would go that far to help them,” Leonard said. “A lot of the customs agents know me now, and they greet me with, ‘All glory to the American people.'”<\/p>\n

WATCH: A retired Lake Geneva man is returning to Ukraine for the 5th time to volunteer and help soldiers on the front lines<\/p>\n

84-year-old Lake Geneva man volunteers in Ukraine to help soldiers<\/p>\n

\"jeff<\/p>\n

TMJ4<\/p>\n

Jeff Leonard has traveled from Lake Geneva to Ukraine five times to help Ukrainian soldiers.<\/p>\n

Leonard lives in Lake Geneva, but he was living in Turkey when Russian soldiers invaded Ukraine in 2022. He says he decided at that moment to help out however he could.<\/p>\n

\"ukraine<\/p>\n

Beverly Leonard<\/p>\n

Jeff Leonard (front row, right) has traveled from Lake Geneva to Ukraine five times to help Ukrainian soldiers.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t really know anybody at the time,” Leonard said. “I just went to Krakow and got on a train to Ukraine.”<\/p>\n

Leonard now delivers non-military goods to soldiers under the supervision of Ukrainian organizers.<\/p>\n

\"ukraine<\/p>\n

Beverly Leonard<\/p>\n

Lake Geneva man Jeff Leonard delivers goods to Ukrainian soldiers using this van.<\/p>\n

“The company commander sends my Ukrainian partner a list of supplies. He and I pick up supplies in Dnipro then I go to the troops with my van.” Leonard said. <\/p>\n

Leonard is not making this trip alone. Fellow Lake Geneva retiree Don Root decided to join Leonard in his humanitarian effort.<\/p>\n

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TMJ4<\/p>\n

Lake Geneva man Don Root is volunteering to help soldiers in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

“World War II happened and this is like it’s starting all over again,” said Root, who says this is his first trip to assist in Ukraine. “We can’t let that happen.”<\/p>\n

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TMJ4<\/p>\n

A sign in support of Ukraine outside of Jeff Leonard’s business in Lake Geneva.<\/p>\n

Leonard believes the work of both volunteers and the Ukrainian soldiers is starting to pay off.<\/p>\n

“I do believe that they’re going to prevail,” Leonard said. “I’ve watched very closely over the years and this is the first time I feel confident that Ukraine can win this war.”<\/p>\n

\"ukrainian<\/p>\n

TMJ4<\/p>\n

A Ukrainian flag outside of Jeff Leonard’s business in Lake Geneva.<\/p>\n

Leonard and Root will remain in Ukraine for three weeks. When they return, they will host a fundraiser in Lake Geneva on May 20 to provide more aid to Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Let’s talk:<\/p>\n

Hey there! At TMJ4 News, we’re all about listening to our audience and tackling the stuff that really matters to you. Got a story idea, tip, or just want to chat about this piece? Hit us up using the form below. For more ways to get in touch, head over to tmj4.com\/tips. <\/p>\n

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Report a typo or error<\/a> \/\/ Submit a news tip<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAKE GENEVA \u2014 Jeff Leonard is an American ally to Ukrainian troops. He has visited the country four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[65,31518,2117,136,135,15310,4140],"class_list":["post-56385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-geneva","tag-geneva","tag-jeff-leonard","tag-lake-geneva","tag-russia","tag-ukraine","tag-volunteer","tag-war"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116476509309896185","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}