Utah Jazz to donate more than 32,000 nights of housing to Ukrainian refugees

Last week, the electronic signs outside Vivint Arena flashed blue and yellow.

On Wednesday, the Utah Jazz flashed some cash.

The Utah Jazz Foundation announced it will fund 32,200 nights of housing for Ukrainian refugees through a partnership with the charitable arm of Airbnb.

“Connection and community have never been more important than it is today. Millions of people have been forced to leave behind their entire lives in Ukraine,” Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith said in a press release announcing the donation.

More than 2 million Ukrainians have become refugees, fleeing their home country in search of safety, in two weeks since the start of the Russian invasion there, according to tracking numbers from the UN Refugee Agency. More than 1.2 million have sought refuge in Poland. Others have headed to Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and even Russia, as fighting escalates in Ukraine.

Smith noted that the donation would be “enough to fill every seat right here in our own house — Vivint Arena — nearly two times over.” The Jazz owner encouraged other franchises and businesses to contribute to the cause “and house enough refugees to fill their arenas or workplaces.”

About 1,500 Ukrainians currently live in Utah. And the war in their country has touched the lives of numerous athletes with Utah ties.

Last week, Utah State volleyball player Kristy Frank, a Kyiv native, said her family had escaped the country and had been taken in by the family of her USU teammate and roommate in Finland.

Frank’s fellow Aggie, basketball player Max Shulga, has family in Ukraine still.

“It’s obviously nerve-racking when you see stuff on the news,” he said. “… Until your people text you back to say everything is good, you’re obviously nervous about it.”

Former Utah Jazz center Kyrylo Fesenko, who is currently playing basketball in Iran, told The Tribune last week that he has been filled with worry and anger in the days since Russia’s attack began.

“Do you know what to do when you hear the sound of an airstrike alarm?” Fesenko said. “For my mom, for my stepfather, it is a new normal,” Fesenko says. “They are basically running back and forth to the bomb shelter every time that happens.”