Some of the items collected in a toy drive for children in Ukraine.
NEW YORK – The year 2014 will go into Ukrainian history as the year of the Revolution of Dignity. From the beginning of the Revolution, Ukrainians from around the world stood together to support the brave men and women who fight for Ukrainian independence and territorial integrity. The Self-Reliance Saturday School of Ukrainian Studies in New York joined the millions around the world to help soldiers and their families.
During 2014, under the leadership of Director Ivan Makar and Academic Deputy Christina Vasylkiv-Pikhmanets, the school organized several charitable events. The first goal was to purchase safety equipment for the Ukrainian troops. In the hope of saving soldiers’ lives parents and teachers gladly gave donations, and in a few months five sets of body armor, helmets and a thermal imager were purchased.
The idea for the next project came from the preschool students and their teacher Natalia Guga. The children drew pictures of Ukrainian flags, flowers and hearts for the soldiers in the Kyivan Rus’ battalion. In addition to their drawings, they prepared small packages with cold remedies, flashlights, toothpaste, toothbrushes and bandages. The teacher said that the parents immediately joined the project. Within a month and a half, the classroom closets were filled with coats, sweaters, gloves, pants and sleeping bags.
The final school event was the collection of toys for children of fallen heroes initiated by Valentyna Hlushak in cooperation with the charitable organization Razom’s toy drive project. Early in the morning of December 20, 2014, students of different ages rushed to the school with bags of presents for their friends in Ukraine. Students wanted to make Christmas happy for the children whose parents have died in the war or returned home seriously injured and whose fathers still defend Ukraine in the cold winter. All donated toys, stationery and warm clothes were packed in 13 boxes and sent to Ukraine on December 31, 2014.