Booster Juice founder goes from corner office to frontlines of Ukrainian refugee crisis

Dale Wishewan was in Palm Springs. The plan was to play a little golf and get away from it all. The founder and CEO of Booster Juice Inc., a company that has grown from a single store to 410 stores in less than two decades, was finding that he couldn't get away from the things a person sees.

Young Ukrainian mothers with a child in the crook of one arm and another kid at their feet, a single bag, and maybe $50 in their pocket, arrive at a humanitarian aid centre near the Polish/Ukrainian border. Wishewan was one of the volunteers who met the women and children in March, thanks to the Ukrainian-speaking grandparents who raised him in a tiny farming community northeast of Edmonton.

He said from California that he found the trip to be very emotional.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has struck at the heart of most people, leaving us grappling on an individual level with how to help. What can be done in the face of unthinkable? Donate money to a charity and pray that it will reach those in need.

In the early days of the war, Wishewan offered to match customer donations up to $200,000, and he had a similar impulse. He thought it was a start, but there was a nagging feeling that he needed to do more. He had to go there and help and roll up his sleeves.

He runs a big company and has connections, including a longstanding friendship with a former Eskimos backup quarterback.

Most Canadian Football League players have a day job away from the field, but Johnson had a job in Booster Juice's marketing department. After retiring from the game, he founded a production company that has done work for Medair, a Swiss non-profit that distributes medical supplies, aid and expertise in humanitarian disaster zones.

Medair hesitated since it wasn't yet set up on the ground in Poland, but Wishewan offered his services. Before jumping on a plane on March 14 the Albertan replied, "all the better." His daughter, a third-year student at the University of Victoria, hopped aboard with him.

He said that they weren't going to take no for an answer. Can you imagine?

Imagine being a father with young children and a good technology job, learning how to handle a weapon while his wife and young children run for the border and the great unknown.

Wishewan was not picky about the work he did in Poland. Organizational efficiency is one of the hallmarks of Booster Juice, and he helped screen other potential volunteers, mopped floors, set up cots, and sketched a layout for a warehouse full of supplies. When the mothers needed a break, Sienna assisted with the young kids.

The executive kept his background to himself and was willing to do anything. He wasn't the only one. Poland and its neighbours have been flooded with volunteers from across Europe. The first refugees they met knew where they were going. Many of them had family in Europe. The aid station in the border town of Przemy was a stop along the way.

Wishewan said he wanted to reach for the bags and carry something. He was a farm boy who grew up with his grandparents. Most people don't want that kind of help. They were proud. Strong. It was successful. Only their world had been flipped upside down, they were just like him.

He said that you had to learn to read people.

There was no down time for volunteers. Wishewan owns a minority stake in the Las Vegas Golden Knights. The refugees arriving at the centre wore a different look as the days went by. They were living in bomb shelters and didn't have family in Europe waiting to take them in.

They had seen people killed, they had seen bodies in the streets, and all they had was a bag or suitcase.

Such things can be seen by Wishewan. He said that he arrived home March 25. He has never considered himself to be a material person. He wonders how much we need when Ukrainians need our help to survive.

He said that they are facing an uphill battle.

Email: Joconnor@nationalpost.com