PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia branch of the Ukrainian Ameri can Youth Association (UAYA) is named after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which fought heroically during and after World War II for the independence of Ukraine. With war raging in eastern Ukraine today, the UAYA branch’s Youth Division (No. 8, named “Kyiv”) decided to conduct a series of activities to help the Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russian aggression.
Headed by Dr. Chrystina Dolyniuk-Mykytyn and assisted by Larissa Luzeckyj, the Youth Division set a fund-raising goal of $2,000 toward the purchase of individual medical supplies and Improved Fist-Aid Kit (IFAK) packages for 20 Ukrainian soldiers, along with the appropriate training.
In order to achieve their goal, the UAYA members organized the following four projects throughout the current academic year.
• “Lemonade Barricade” – the children made and sold lemonade in September-October 2014 at the traditional UAYA “Zdvyh” rally (over the Labor Day weekend at the UAYA Resort Center in Ellenville, N.Y.) and at their weekly youth meetings in the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center (UECC) in Jenkintown, Pa.
• “Chocolate Barricade” – the children made and sold hot chocolate in December 2014 during their annual “Welcoming of St. Nicholas” event.
• Coffee and cake sale – in March, the children collected free-will offerings in exchange for coffee and sweets during the annual Taras Shevchenko concert at the UECC.
• Craft sale – in May, each UAYA troop made items (patriotic insignia, painted frames, flowerpots, bracelets, etc.) to be sold at the UECC.
By the end of May, the youths exceeded their original goal, having collected $2,600. The UAYA fund-raising campaign continues. The total collected will be donated to the Patriot Defence Project, a program sponsored by the Ukrainian World Congress.