Valentina Kuryliw and Oksana Rewa are the 2019 Ochrymowych Humanitarian Award Recipients

Ann Semotiuk.

Valentina Kuryliw and Oksana Rewa will be presented with the Ochrymowych Humanitarian Award at a gala banquet in their honour on October 20, 2019 at the Old Mill Inn by Ukrainian Canadian Social Services – Toronto (UCSS-T) for their humanitarian values and volunteer activities and leadership in the areas of culture, education, community organization and development, human rights advocacy and building a civil society.

Valentina Kuryliw is a distinguished educator who has published two major books on methodology on teaching history used to reform teaching methods in Ukraine to promote civil society through education and created an immersive learning experience for the Holodomor Mobile Classroom that has won three international design awards. Valentina Kuryliw addressed the lack of information in Canadian textbooks regarding Canada’s First Internment Operations in World War I, lobbied for refugees from behind the Iron Curtain and elsewhere, established the Holodomor Memorial Day in schools across Canada and facilitated the inclusion of the Holodomor into Canadian curricula. As President of the Canadian Ukrainian Opera Association since 1996, Valentina Kuryliw has organized events to promote Canadian talent and classical music.

Oksana Rewa is a passionate and dedicated voice for the causes she embraces. A leader in the community since the early 1990s when she started fundraising as a member of various medical and academic organizations in Toronto she expanded her community activities and became a committed and valuable activist in the Ukrainian Canadian community. Oksana Rewa has been involved on various building and fundraising boards, as a promoter of youth outreach programs and organizer of cultural activities. Founder of the Canadian Bandura Foundation, she was also the Executive Producer of an award-winning documentary short about the Bandura, organized a Bandura workshop in Ukraine for Canadian students and produced the first International Bandura Festival in Oakville. As a former President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Toronto Oksana Rewa has been the driving force for the successful development of the Holodomor Memorial Project in Toronto.

The Ochrymovych Humanitarian Award is presented every two years to an individual or individuals who seek to advance the wellbeing of humanity through volunteer work, advocacy, leadership and/or philanthropy in Canada or abroad. The award is named after Markian Ochrymowych, a social worker and a dedicated humanitarian who worked tirelessly to help people in need.

Ukrainian Canadian Social Services-Toronto is a charitable, non-profit organization that has been providing programs and services to the elderly, immigrants, families and youth in the GTA since 1953.

Tickets to the gala may be purchased on the UCSS-T webpage through Canada Helps, at the UCSS office at 2445 Bloor St. W or by calling the office at 416 763-4982.

Share on Social Media