'You guys opened your hearts': Canandaigua steps up for Ukraine
CANANDAIGUA -- Viktor Tschasayk said when it comes to the actual war with Russia, Ukraine does not need help from anyone for “our fight.”
But for Tschasayk, who came to the U.S. from Ukraine when he was junior high school age, appreciates what the American people are doing to help the Ukrainian people here and for those soon to arrive from their war-torn country.
“America seems to help everybody else, so we’re no different,” said Tschasayk, during a Night for Ukraine fundraising event at The Central on Main in Canandaigua on Thursday.
The Called to Care, Canandaigua organization is raising money to support its work in bringing a Ukrainian family to resettle in Canandaigua. This group is made up of people from churches and other organizations who have come together to find safe homes for people fleeing war.
More than 100 people visited the outdoor dining area in downtown Canandaigua to help the cause.
Linda Werts, one of the leaders in this effort, has helped with the resettlement of refugees displaced by war and other reasons for years.
A Rotarian who moved to Canandaigua a few years back, Werts said members of this group have a shared passion for helping others – a point driven home when she called an initial meeting this spring, and 17 people showed up. Now, as many as 80 people stand willing to do something to help.
Canandaigua can be a welcoming community for Ukrainian people, Werts said.
“Everyone I’ve met is so warm and open and welcoming, from my new church to Rotarians I meet,” Werts said. “I think we will serve others in a really good way.”
That’s a sentiment echoed by Olga Tabinsky of Ionia, whose parents come from Ukraine. She is a volunteer for the group.
“It’s such a wonderful, heartwarming feeling that – especially in the times we’ve been going through the last decade or so in our country – there's been such an honest, heartwarming support to Ukraine and to refugees who would be coming here into the United States,” Tabinsky said.
The Canandaigua group is working with two organizations, NY20 Project and World Relief of Western NY. When the time comes, volunteers, who are trained, may stay with a family until they get settled here, as well as help them find housing, employment, enroll kids in schools and get medical care.
Proceeds from Thursday night’s event will be used toward housing, transportation and other costs as the family resettles in Canandaigua. Werts is hopeful a Ukrainian family will settle here by the end of the year at the latest or as soon as next month.
“I know this is going to work,” Werts said.
This is the latest effort in a year’s worth of help locally to the Ukrainian people.
Canandaigua artist Nestor Ortiz paid tribute to Ukraine with a mural of brilliantly colored sunflowers, a symbol of peace and show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, on the grounds at The Central on Main.
Earlier in the year, the Pat Rini Rohrer Gallery in downtown Canandaigua hosted a silent auction and fundraising art show – many of the works featured included a sunflower theme – for the people of this war-torn country. And the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery -- its founder fled Ukraine during World War II -- provided funds from the sale of its Finger Lakes wines to help feed people at the Ukraine-Poland border.
Yuliya Pavlyuk, a singer from Ukraine who performed Thursday and is one of the founders of RocMaidan, a charitable organization founded in Rochester to support victims of war in Ukraine, said this is a great mission.
“You guys opened your hearts,” Pavlyuk told the crowd. “You guys have opened your homes.”
To help
For more details on how to help in the effort to resettle a Ukrainian family in Canandaigua, call Linda Werts at 315-447-0276.
This article originally appeared on MPNnow: 'You guys opened your hearts': Canandaigua steps up again for Ukraine
