PARSIPPANY, N.J. – As has become tradition during the annual Ukrainian Cultural Festival at Soyuzivka Heritage Center, this year scheduled for July 12-14, the Ukrainian National Foundation is holding a fund-raising gala banquet on Friday evening.
This year’s gala, to be held Friday, July 12, beginning at 7 p.m., will benefit the newspapers Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly, publications of the Ukrainian National Association, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary. Founded in 1893, Svoboda is the world’s oldest continuously published Ukrainian newspaper. The Ukrainian Weekly has been published since 1933.
The benefit will raise funds for the UNA Publications Endowment Fund that exists under the aegis of the Ukrainian National Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) organization that performs charitable activities on behalf of the UNA. The endowment’s goal is to ensure the future of the two most important newspapers serving the Ukrainian American community.
The banquet will feature special guest stars from Ukraine: singers Taras Petrynenko, Tetiana Horobets and Tonya Matvienko, the headliners of the 13th Ukrainian Cultural Festival. The master of ceremonies for the evening will be Bogdan Tabaka.
Mr. Petrynenko, a musician as well as a singer, is a laureate of the Shevchenko National Prize, Ukraine’s highest honor for works of culture and the arts. He is known for his iconic song “Ukraino!” – which he performed to great acclaim at Soyuzivka over the Labor Day weekend of 1991, soon after Ukraine declared its independence. Mr. Petrynenko was an active participant of the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity.
Ms. Horobets, who is married to Mr. Petrynenko, is an Honored Artist of Ukraine and a People’s Artist of Ukraine. She became known as the soloist for the group Hrono. She performs as a soloist and in duos with her husband.
Ms. Matvienko, known for the timbre of her voice, is the daughter of the famed singer Nina Matvienko. In 2011, she competed in the first season of the show “Holos Krayiny” (The Voice of the Country), earning second place. She is currently recording a new album.
Tickets to the gala, at $150 per person, include a tax-deductible donation of $50 to the UNF – UNA Publications Endowment Fund, a cocktail reception and banquet, a private performance by the stars of the Ukrainian Cultural Festival, VIP parking and admission to the festival.
Those wishing to attend should contact Soyuzivka by e-mail, [email protected], or by phone, 845-626-5641. Anyone wishing to support this year’s fund-raiser may send a check payable to UNF – UNA Publications Endowment Fund to: Ukrainian National Foundation, 2200 Route 10, Parsippany, NJ 07054.