EDITORIAL: The UNA and you (02/18/96)

EDITORIAL

The UNA and you

You hold in your hands a copy of The Ukrainian Weekly, which has served the Ukrainian community in the United States, Canada and elsewhere (that elsewhere now includes Taiwan, Mexico, Oman and Thailand, besides Australia and the countries one would expect in Europe and South America) for more than 62 years.

But none of that service would have been possible without its publisher, the Ukrainian National Association, which has served Ukrainians in North America for more than a century. What other Ukrainian organization could afford the expense of publishing two newspapers? How could we publish our paper and provide the type of coverage we do, including on-the-scene reporting from Kyiv, without the financial and other backing of the UNA?

Why do we bring this up? Because the UNA, or Batko Soyuz, as it was dubbed by grateful members who recognized the fraternal society's paternal role, is marking the 102nd anniversary of its founding on February 22.

Last year, readers will recall, was a year of tough decisions for the Ukrainian National Association as it was forced to cut back on certain fraternal activities it had financed (e.g., the UNA Washington Office, and the Veselka children's magazine) and take a good long look at what was draining its surplus.

It has become clear - from discussions members of the UNA General Assembly have had in the aftermath of the aforementioned decisions with community groups and individuals in various cities - that most people do not realize a simple fact: the UNA's fraternal offerings are directly related to its fiscal health. And that, dear readers, is dependent on the number of members ( i.e. policyholders) the UNA has and on the amount of insurance business the UNA writes.

Sure, there are many who say, "But, I have enough insurance coverage at work," or "I'm adequately covered by... (insert name of commercial insurance company)." Well, that may or may not be true, but the greater truth may be found in asking the question: Who (other than your beneficiaries once you die) benefits from the insurance you buy from a commercial life insurance company? Think about that.

When you buy insurance from the UNA, you are supporting an organization that uses the profits from its insurance business to support community organizations, causes and charities. It uses those profits also to give its members better fraternal benefits, whether that is discounts on the newspapers it publishes (this paper and the Ukrainian-language daily Svoboda), special members' prices at Soyuzivka, the UNA's upstate New York resort, or scholarships for college students. Naturally, as the number of members increases, so does the quantity and quality of the UNA's fraternal activity.

As a fraternal benefit society, the UNA is the sum of its members. The UNA is you - not some select group of executive officers sitting in the Home Office making decisions without contacts or consultations with the association's members. As a member you have a say in what the UNA does, how it functions and what its priorities are via your local branch, your district committee and the convention at which officers, advisors and auditors are elected.

As we commemorate this organization's 102nd birthday, it is most appropriate to invoke the traditional Ukrainian birthday wish: "Mnohaya Lita." Or, to put it another way, may the Ukrainian National Association serve our community for many, many more years to come. But, for that wish to come true, that community has to support the UNA by joining the ranks of its members and assuming a role in charting its course for the future.

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