About two weeks ago we said goodbye to two superb young gentlemen, Vadym Zyablitsev and Ihor Sholtys. The two veterans of Ukraine’s war against Putin’s invading armies in the Donbas bid their farewells and boarded a plane back to Ukraine.
When they first stepped off the plane on June 3 at Toronto’s Pearson Airport we didn’t really know what to expect, both from the young men in question and from the two week fundraising tour we had planned for them. We had some pledges from sponsors to help pay for the flights and hotels for Ihor, Vadym and Yuriy Lipar, a volunteer from Lviv who accompanied them on the trip.
We soon saw that our guests were decent, intelligent, well-spoken, patriotic men who had answered the call of their motherland willingly. They paid a high price by sustaining serious injuries at two of the most well-known battles of the war, Ihor (20 years old) at Pisky and Vadym (25 years old) at Debaltsevo.
Their trip to Canada was a first for both. It was short, but they saw a lot, met many people, and came away with a deep appreciation of the Ukrainian-Canadian community in southern Ontario. They also put in a tremendous amount of work. In total, they made appearances at four major fundraising events and at a number of other visits to Ukrainian schools, businesses and community organizations.
At the four fundraising events we raised $37,940 for the UCU Helps Ukraine Fund in donations and ticket sales. The breakdown is as follows:
June 5: (Oakville) Ukrainian Orthodox Eastern Eparchy Picnic: $6,120.00
Jun 8: (Etobicoke) UNF Hall 145 Evans: $9,000.00
June 10: Hamilton UNF Hall: $4,900.00
June 12: (Mississauga) St. Mary’s Church: $17,920.00
Total: $37,940.00
We also raised $10,000 from sponsors to pay for travel costs, visas and other expenses. Cash sponsorship came from the following groups and individuals:
Ukrainian Credit Union Limited: $5,000
Toronto Ukrainian Foundation: $2,000 (for educational content/production of video etc.)
Oleksandr Mackiw: $1,000
Staff of Bloor West Branch: $1,000
Staff of Etobicoke branch: $500
Ukrainian War Veterans’ Association (UWVA): $500
Total: $10,000
The expenses breakdown as following:
Visas: $516.35
Airfare: $3,423.00
Accommodations: $2,998.55
Mailing, Printing costs: $763.85
Audio/Visual and production for shows: $2,400.00
Total: $10,101.75
We also received much sponsorship in kind:
• St. Volodymyr Cultural Centre in Oakville provided the venue and equipment on June 5th.
• UNF Toronto provided the Trident Hall and salads and coffee at the June 8th event
• Ukrainian Credit Union Limited provided food for the June 8th event.
• UNF and OYK in Hamilton provided the hall and sweets and coffee for the June 10th event.
• Antonina Kumka sacrificed much of her time to help with organizing and promoting the Hamilton event.
• Dormition of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church (St. Mary’s) provided food and audio/visual equipment for the June 12th event
• Kontakt TV, New Pathway newspaper, Radio Meest and Radio Postup provided much publicity for the fundraising events
• UCU Helps Ukraine volunteers and organizers Kateryna Litvinjuk, Michael Zienchuk, Roman Mlynko, Anna Procio, Oksana Iwanusiw, Yaryna Kozak and many other UCU staff as well as Renata Roman and Stefan Chwaluk donated countless hours of work toward organizing the events as well as spending out of pocket on various costs that came up during the visit.
• We would also like to thank all those who helped with the performances at each event: Yana Bilyk, Oleh Buncha, Lesya Babiy, Oksana Volynets, Yaryna Kozak, Taras Turianyn, Serhiy Danko, Natalka Gil, Natalia Kolacz, Lesya and Anatoliy Padalko, Taras Blyzniuk, Fedir Danylak and Barvinok, Ivan Kyba, Joseph Terlicki and Zahrava, Rustem Irsay, Oleksandr Bat, Vlodko Dlugosz and many others who helped during the soldiers’ tour in Ontario, there are too many people to thank individually. But you all have our gratitude.
As of June 21, 2016 the UCU Helps Ukraine fund has raised $118.387.72. So far we have helped over 50 soldiers that are recovering from their injuries.
If you can help, please give generously. There are many more young men such as Ihor and Vadym who have lost arms, legs or suffered even worse injuries. You can give at any branch of Ukrainian Credit Union Limited or through our call centre 416-922-4407, 800-461-0777. Please ask for account #721225. This is not a registered charity and charitable receipts will not be issued.
Yuriy Diakunchak
Director of Marketing
Ukrainian Credit Union Limited
416-763-5575 x208
[email protected]
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