As Russia continues its unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, the Ukrainian diaspora is making a tremendous effort to help the country defend against the invaders.
Since Feb. 24, the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), an international coordination assembly of all Ukrainian public organizations in the diaspora, has launched the Unite with Ukraine global campaign to help the country’s territorial defenders with ammunition and other essentials on the frontline of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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Featuring a range of well-known ambassadors, the initiative is spearheaded by the Grammy-winning platinum-selling artist, Chantal Kreviazuk, whose great-grandparents fled Jospeh Stalin’s Soviet regime in Ukraine, settling in rural Manitoba.
On March 15, she was invited to hear President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address in the House of Commons alongside Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau, MPs and other representatives. “I wanted to be in the room because I know how the Ukrainian people have suffered and how they’ve never given up on democracy. Sadly, and yet inspirationally, they are fighting for that value, for everybody right now,” Kreviazuk said.
Together with the UWC, the singer has launched a series of fundraising events in Canada and the U.S., with the latest one taking place in Los Angeles on June 3. Opening their home for this private event was Live Nation Entertainment’s executive Steve Herman and producer Missy Valdez.
The evening was co-chaired by Kreviazuk and journalist Zorianna Kit. It featured Kreviazuk, Ukrainian singer Mika Newton, who recently performed alongside John Legend at Grammy Awards Ceremony in April, UWC Vice-President George Huculak, and other eminent figures.
“It was an honor to represent Kyiv Post at this truly unique event in Los Angeles and to meet such leading figures in the entertainment industry all in the name of raising much needed funds and awareness for Ukraine,” said Chénier.
During the gathering, Huculak delivered a speech, thanking the attendees for their contributions. He showed a special video message from the Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, and UWC President, Paul Grod, who said that UWC’s members and supporters have successfully raised over $23 million, to date.
“We need to raise much, much more money to support these very important defenders,” Grod added, standing opposite Mayor Klitschko in Kyiv who emphasized, “We [Ukraine] are fighting for democracy, we are fighting for human rights, we’re fighting for our future, and the future of our children. Please support us, it’s very important.”
The series of fundraising events started when Krevaziuk held a special benefit concert in Toronto, raising $278,000 for the Unite with Ukraine initiative.
Her next charity concert is slated to take place at the 2022 Oakville Film Festival in Canada. It will also feature a traditional Ukrainian dance performance of the Hopak by the Barvinok Ukrainian Dance School and a screening of the Ukrainian film “The Earth is as Blue As an Orange” by its writer, director, and editor, Iryna Tsilyk. The film follows single mother Hanna and her four children in the front-line war zone of Donbas, Ukraine.
The UWC was established in 1967, representing the interests of over 20 million Ukrainians in the diaspora, uniting Ukrainian communities and organizations in over 60 countries. Its goal is to support a democratic, prosperous, European Ukraine. Recognized by the United Nations Economic and Social Council as a non-governmental organization with special consultative status, it also enjoys participatory status as an international non-governmental organization with the Council of Europe.
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