THE NEWS FROM HERE (07/17/05)

THE NEWS FROM HERE

In this week's "News from Here" each story focuses on community. In Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., a Ukrainian E-Gazette was recently established to keep the Ukrainian community in that area, Chicago and New York informed of Ukrainian news. The Ukrainian community in Jersey City worked together and raised $1,500 for the Gift of Life program, which will pay for a child's operation in Kyiv. Finally, the Ukrainian community in Maryland is concerned about the impact that development in the area where Ukrainians have lived since the beginning of the 19th century will have on their community.

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL, Minn.: Ukrainian E-Gazette debuts

On April 1 the e-mail based newsletter, Ukrainian E-Gazette had its debut. The Ukrainian American Wave Association and "Radio Ukraine" created the newsletter to inform the Twin Cities, Chicago and New York City diasporas of upcoming community events. Over 1,000 recipients welcomed the premier of Ukrainian E-Gazette.

The parent of "Radio Ukraine," UAWA members Lyuba Megits, Yosyf Sabir, Romana Vasylevych, Kristina Zaluckyj and "Radio Ukraine" producer Mykola Megits work collectively on community events. With time they realized that an additional form of efficient advertising was necessary, especially at the start of the Orange Revolution. Numerous list-serves emerged in the community during the political turmoil, keeping everyone abreast of the latest developments.

Shortly after the end of the Orange Revolution it became evident that community announcements needed to be consistently advertised in electronic fashion, complementing regular announcements on the radio. Hence the birth of Ukrainian E-Gazette.

Design layout for Ukrainian E-Gazette is produced by DreamGlance, Inc. Editors for Ukrainian E-Gazette are Mr. Megits and Ms. Zaluckyj. To be included in Ukrainian E-Gazette's distribution list, post a community event free of charge, or advertise a Ukrainian organization for a small fee, readers may e-mail [email protected].

JERSEY CITY, N.J.: School kids become empowered

This past spring a group of motivated students at the Ukrainian Saturday School in Jersey City, with the guidance of their teacher, and help from the community, exceeded their goal in raising funds for the Gift of Life, a cause to which they became devoted.

Marie Lasky, a lay religious teacher at the Ukrainian school, asked students to do something to benefit a person in need during Lent. After some brainstorming, the children settled on the idea of helping a fellow Ukrainian child. With help from Ms. Lasky the pupils selected the Ukrainian American Freedom Foundation's Gift of Life program as the recipient of their donation. Needless to say, the project had the wholehearted support of the Ukrainian Saturday school's director, Dr. Orest Polischuk.

The children's idea for their group project incorporated the rest of the Jersey City Ukrainian community when the pastor, Father Vasyl Putera, agreed to include announcements about the fund-raiser in the church bulletin and to make weekly announcements during Lent. Thus, the entire community, including the local branch of the Selfreliance Ukrainian American Credit Union, whose manager is Yaroslav Zaviysky, became involved and supported the fund drive.

The children's goal was to raise $1,000. When the drive ended around Eastertime they sat with Ms. Lasky and the school's treasurer, Lucyna Demjanuch, to count the donations they had received. There were whoops of joy when the count reached $1,050, but there was more in another coffee tin. The total turned out to be $1,500, and the kids were ecstatic.

Next, Ms. Lasky invited representatives of the Gift of Life to come and accept the check.

Teodor Oleschuk, president of the Gift of Life, and Petro Oleschuk, executive vice-president, visited Jersey City, where they were presented with the $1,500 that the Ukrainian community had collected. The Saturday School's Mother's Committee prepared coffee, cake, sandwiches and home-baked goods for the guests and the community to enjoy during the exciting visit.

The hard work of the students of Jersey City's Ukrainian Saturday School has allowed a child in Kyiv to receive an operation. Through this project the children not only helped somebody else, but they also saw what they could do when they worked as a team.

According to community activist Zenon Halkowycz, Ms. Lasky empowered the group to come together, and with minimal input from teachers and parents, the children realized their potential for success when they did so.

The Gift of Life program is partners with Rotary International, which has contributed aid to Ukraine for many years. Readers may contact Peter Oleschuk at (516) 561-5311 for information about this program, and how to contribute.

CHESAPEAKE CITY, Md.: Community faces development

Chesapeake City, a town divided into north and south by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, is home to a Ukrainian community that was first established at the beginning of the last century. In the next 10 to 15 years land that the Sisters of St. Basil, an order that is part of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, sold to a developer will have been annexed into Chesapeake City.

Federal-style town houses and single-family homes built close together along tree-lined streets will form the new landscape of the 154 acres.

This sale poses a problem to the St. Rose of Lima Parish because now there is no opportunity to expand its cemetery, in which several Ukrainian families are buried, including Breza, Hrycek, Kulick, Maksyn, Terpeluk, Losten, Zukowsky, Luzetsky, Blendy and Ortynski.

Chesapeake City's mayor, Robert Bernstine, stated that he understood that some land would be preserved, but it is unclear whether that land will be available for expansion of St. Rose's cemetery.

Chesapeake City is located in Cecil County, which borders southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware's New Castle County. Cecil County's open space and convenient location, between Philadelphia and Baltimore, has spurred great population increases over the past several years. According to the Sunday News Journal, a Maryland-based newspaper, in 1990 Cecil County's population was 71,000 and today it has grown to 90,000. This population is expected to increase to over 100,000 in less than a decade.

Though some residents are hesitant about the growth of Chesapeake City because of their concern about the city losing its identity, Mayor Bernstine states that Chesapeake City must expand in order to improve its day to day operations.

- compiled by Roxolana Woloszyn

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