Circa 1994
Valery Shkurinsky
President & Founder
Arriving in the United States in 1990 as refugees, Valery Shkurinsky and his family were deeply moved by the immense kindness and open hearts of the American people. Driven by a profound sense of gratitude, he established Emmanuel Mercy Mission in 1992 as its primary Founder and has served continuously as the organization’s President. Over a 30-year operational history, he led the mission’s foundational efforts, overseeing the strategic aggregation, packing, and sorting of over 250 heavy ocean cargo containers. Filled with vital medical supplies and essential food reserves, these shipments were carefully prepared at the mission’s facility before being dispatched via certified third-party port transport networks directly to crisis fields across Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, the Baltic States, and East Africa (Burundi).
The roots of his commercial logistics expertise stretch back to 1994, when Valery and his brother, Nick Shkurinskiy, took out a loan to purchase their very first Freightliner truck. Managing large families at the time—Valery with 5 children (the youngest just a few years old) and Nick with 6 children—they worked tirelessly to earn a living while dedicating their hearts to helping fellow refugees and organizing humanitarian aid shipments to the republics of the former Soviet Union.
Today, Valery is a successful Pacific Northwest entrepreneur, owning and operating NV Transport Inc. as an equal partner alongside Nick. Please note that their commercial business enterprises are entirely separate, independent entities and have no legal, operational, or financial ties to the nonprofit organization. Out of an enduring family commitment to humanitarian relief, they provide independent charitable financial sponsorships through their corporate networks—including NV Diesel Service and Big Truck Wash—solely on a voluntary basis whenever possible to support the mission’s future deployments.
Circa 1994
Valentina Ovcharenko
Early Volunteer Leader & Pioneer
Stood as an indispensable foundational pioneer and the leading operational catalyst among our earliest volunteers during the mission’s historic launch in 1992. Guided by a spirit of profound self-sacrifice, she dedicated her personal home to serve as Emmanuel Mercy Mission’s very first active headquarters and administrative sorting center.
Demonstrating extraordinary hands-on leadership, she personally funded and purchased large volumes of emergency resources while single-handedly organizing community volunteer blocks to gather, sort, and securely pack survival supplies. Within her residence, she managed the physical staging and boxing of our inaugural freight loads—loading food reserves, winter clothing bundles, and critical essentials. Her legacy of grassroots mobilization and unwavering devotion remains the foundational heart of our volunteer network today.
Circa 1994
Vladimir K. Durshpek
Vice President & Co-Founder • In Memoriam
Stood as a foundational pillar of Emmanuel Mercy Mission during its historic establishment in 1992, serving as the organization’s original Vice President and Co-Founder. Combining formal administrative leadership with deep spiritual devotion as an assistant pastor during those early years, his profound faith and tireless service to broken families laid the organizational bedrock of our core transparency values.
Working in tight alignment with the executive board, he anchored the ethical and organizational structures necessary to execute our multi-continental relief pipelines. Though he has passed, his legacy as an executive officer and spiritual guide remains the moral compass that shapes our humanitarian deployment strategy and mission values today.