As thousands of displaced Ukrainians began to flee to neighboring countries while theirs was being taken siege by Russian forces, Cenovio Villa decided that he was going to provide care to those victims.
The Plant City resident left the U.S. and headed to Romania on Thursday, March 3, where many Ukrainian refugees have settled but are lacking in resources. Villa traveled to the country, for a seven-day stay, with the United Aid Foundation he is a board member of.
“We’re trying to create a situation where we send teams in the future, medical teams,” he said. “The immediate thing is that we set up a kitchen to provide warm meals to the refugees passing through or staying there. We want to be able to provide local homecooked meals.”
This is the result of Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering his military soldiers to invade Ukraine, on Thursday, Feb. 24. Prior to that, approximately 190,000 Russian soldiers spent several days amassed at their border with Ukraine, as the world watched and waited for the inevitable.
Villa is no stranger to providing humanitarian aid as he has helped build many homes for the disadvantaged in other countries.
“We do this all over the world,” he said. “It’s a big humanitarian situation over there. We like to get out there and see what we can do.”
After graduating high school in Plant City, he went on to receive a degree in computer animation, but he ended up working in a blue-collar industry.
As a professional construction worker and builder, he had an opportunity to put his skills to use outside of the U.S.
The California native had spent years working for the Palm Harbor Homes house-manufacturing company until he started his own business, Project Villa LLC, in 2012, which renovates and remodels homes.
During the aftermath of the earthquake that ravaged parts of Haiti in 2010, he went to the island and helped build houses for those who were left homeless.
This was after he had initially volunteered to go there with his former employer, but then had a change of heart.
“I tried to get out of it,” Villa said. “I tried to come up with some excuse not to make it out there and I just couldn’t get out of it. So I went, and it was just eye-opening.”
Since then, he had returned there at least twice a year, helping to build up to 42 houses.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and he had to stop the effort.
In the past he has also contributed his services within Africa and Nepal.
Locally, he has done charitable work for the United Food Bank of Plant City.
With the constant news coverage of the devastation that the Ukrainian people are enduring, the United Aid Foundation felt it was time to support those who had chosen the Romanian country for refuge.
However, unlike his other missions, Villa’s wife did not support his decision to go to the country, feeling that it was unsafe.
This wasn’t a typical volunteer job that addressed a natural disaster, but instead a war in which his safety wasn’t guaranteed, Villa acknowledged.
Eventually his wife changed her mind. He was now ready to help complete strangers he had never met in his life.
“There’s something about helping your fellow human being in their most vulnerable situation,” Villa said. “We’re extremely blessed to be living in the greatest country in the world. I feel that if everybody was in my situation, that anybody and everybody would do the same thing – just drop what they’re doing and go.
“I see the faces of the kids. I see the happiness. I see the desperation before we get there. Sometimes a little bag of rice is enough to change somebody’s day for the better. I guess when it’s all said and done, I just want to help out as many people as I can.”
Right now, Villa and his organization are mainly focused on providing the necessary food and medical supplies needed for the Ukrainian refugees.
However, he said he is willing to make a return to help build houses if needed.
As a humanitarian, he’s always ready to leave his comfortable life in Plant City to help build a comfortable one for those who deserve another chance.
To make a donation through the United Aid Foundation to assist in the refugee crisis, visit UnitedAidFoundation.org.