Remember thou, that upon thee
The fate of millions is now resting,
That for the fate of millions
Thou shalt be called for an accounting
– Ivan Franko
These words of Ivan Franko remain relevant to all Ukrainians, both in Ukraine and in America. And we at the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee (UUARC), which is now in its eighth decade of service to Ukrainians worldwide, realize we need to keep on working without easing up our efforts, especially since the situation in Ukraine remains perilous and economically critical.
The UUARC has a number of permanent programs that serve diverse needs. Among them are the following.
• “Know Your Native Land” – In December 2014, 20 child refugees from Donbas participated in the Christmas program of the project “Know Your Native Land.” The children were hosted by the Ukrainian Catholic monastery in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, where they celebrated Christmas, visited the Pysanka Museum in Yaremche and went on an excursion. In Kyiv the children visited various churches, the historic Baikove Cemetery, the Golden Gates and the Monastery of the Caves (Pecherska Lavra). On St. Nicholas Day, UUARC distributed Christmas baskets to orphans, children from poor families, invalids, the infirm and children whose fathers had died fighting in the zone of anti-terrorist operations (ATO). Food baskets were also provided to elderly individuals who had been persecuted during the Soviet regime.
• Children’s camps – In 2015, the UUARC funded summer camps for 200 children in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. There were three sessions that hosted 200 children. The participants were children of soldiers who were killed or injured, refugee children from the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and children from Mariupol and Sumy. The cost for the camps and children’s transportation was $26,000.
• “Going from Childhood to Taras” – Responding to an appeal by Ukrainian language and literature teachers in 2007, the UUARC has sponsored the annual “From Childhood to Taras” contest. The competition begins in villages and districts, and goes on to the oblast level, where the winners receive a two-day excursion to Kyiv and Kaniv. In 2015 the contest took place in Donetsk (on Ukrainian-controlled territory), Zaporizhia, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Sumy, with 30 children from each oblast. The winners visited Kyiv and Kaniv, and paid their respects to Taras Shevchenko. This contest and excursion help the students sense the majesty and beauty of their native land while forgetting, albeit briefly, about the war.
• “Candle of Hope” – Since 1992, the UUARC has been providing financial aid to ill and infirm writers. At the end of 2014 there were 14 writers on UUARC’s list, who each receive $20 monthly.
• “Adopt-a-Grandparent”– The UUARC continues its “Adopt-a-Grandparent” project, which began in 1999. Sponsors provide $20 monthly to aid elderly individuals in Ukraine, who receive the money from UUARC officials in Ukraine. This is a significant relief for the infirm, ill and solitary individuals. In 2014, 80 individuals were enrolled in this program.
• Soup kitchens – The UUARC operates four soup kitchen programs in Ukraine. In Lviv, the program serves 35 people five days a week. In Mykolayiv, 25 people are served five days a week, and in the town of Ponornytsia in the Chernihiv Oblast 25 people are served five days a week. In Nova Odesa, 84 persons benefit from the program, with each individual getting a food package every other month. Priority is given to veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the elderly, former prisoners of Siberian labor camps, invalids and orphaned children. The total cost of this program for 2015 was almost $80,000.
• Humanitarian aid shipments – From October 2014 to October 2015, the UUARC shipped seven 40-foot containers; an eighth was in transit as of the writing of this report. The containers that were sent in 2014 went to the Union of Homeless Veterans of Afghanistan “Our Home” in Lviv and the religious community Logus of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate. The aid was distributed to hospitals, military subunits of the ATO, refugees, and the poor and needy. The value of these containers, which contained clothing and medical supplies, was $220,878.
In 2015 two containers were shipped to Vira Prynko, the director of the UUARC office in Kyiv. Most of the items in the first shipment were collected by St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Parish in Whippany, N.J., and the cargo included: new thermal underwear, gloves, medical blankets and equipment, clothing and footwear, toys, bedding and blankets (total value: $40,044). The second shipping container included two used, but fully functioning and fully equipped ambulances, as well as new medical equipment and clothing. One ambulance was delivered to border troops; the other went to the Ministry of Defense and then to the village of Shyrokyne in the Donetsk Oblast. The total value of the cargo was $86,477. The UUARC also shipped containers to the Main Military-Clinical Hospital in Kyiv and to Our Home; the values of the supplies sent were, respectively, $133,088 and $106,000.
• Brazilian Land Fund – This fund, which lends money to farmers of Ukrainian descent is still operating in Parana.
In the last two years, the UUARC has initiated several new programs.
• “Adopt a Wounded Ukrainian Soldier” – In order to support the ever-increasing number of wounded soldiers, UUARC created a program called “Adopt a Wounded Ukrainian Soldier.” For $25 monthly, or $300 annually, a sponsor can help a wounded soldier pay for his medical needs. By October 2015, 405 wounded soldiers have been sponsored. Over $102,000 has been distributed.
• “Family-to-Family” – Victims of the war include widows, children without parents, and elderly parents of the soldiers. Through a monthly fee of $25 (or $300 annually), the sponsor can give these families hope and the awareness that they are not alone. The sponsorship may be long-term or one-time. Recently the program merged with “Orphans of Maidan and ATO” which began in Connecticut.
• EDUCARE – EDUCARE aids homes for disabled children from birth to age 4. This program provides necessities and funding for developmental programs to help children realize their full potential. In 2014, the Berizka home in Khmelnytsky was funded. The assistance included new children’s clothing, footwear, carriages, walkers, sets of bedding and beds, disposable diapers and hygiene products. For St. Nicholas Day, the children received sweets and toys.
Thanks to the work of parishes, organizations and individuals, there were special collections of funds and supplies for assistance sent via the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee. Thus, for example, in 2014, Christ the King the Ukrainian Catholic Parish in Boston collected $65,000 for the victims of the Maidan and ATO. Other collections benefited orphans, schools, hospitals and reading rooms in Ukraine; the Ukrainian National Home in Poland; students at Lviv Academic Gymnasium; the newspaper Chornomorets in Odesa; the Orphanage Project of Ukraine Little League Baseball (Basil Tarasko); and a 9-year-old girl who needed a liver transplant (thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor who gave $10,000).
Every person leaves a footprint in this life. Donors’ footprints via the UUARC’s various relief programs ease the suffering of at least some of our people.
For further information, readers may visit the UUARC’s webpage (www.uuarc.org) and its Facebook page (www.facebook.com/uuarc).
Dr. Larissa Kyj is president of the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee. The article above is based on her report to the organization’s annual meeting, which took place on October 24, 2015.