'Very hard for me': Middletown Ukrainian family seeks first aid kits at Orthodox Easter

MIDDLETOWN - More than a year since the full-scale war in Ukraine by Russian forces began, Maiia Dvokina was greeting guests at her aunt Nathalie Halbout’s fundraiser in Middletown. When will she go home again? That's hard to say, but it's part of the reason for the fundraiser in the first place.

“Last year was very hard for me,” Dvokina said at the Unitarian Universalist meeting house. Dvokina, who left her home at the outskirts of Kyiv in the spring of 2022, is currently living with the Halbout family.

During the last year, the Halbouts and Dvokina have solicited donations for first aid kits for Ukraine from friends and family members, told their story to high school students and set up fundraising events to keep the war in Ukraine at the forefront of people’s minds.

The fundraiser on Friday coincided with the week of Orthodox Easter, which is April 16. Instead of seeking corporate sponsorship, the Halbouts reached out to various friends and acquaintances from their social circles.

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Dvokina said she missed her home, but if she “can do something here to support Ukraine, it’s better to stay here.”

Since the war began, the Halbouts and Dvokina have been raising funds for first aid medical kits. David Halbout documents their efforts on his furniture-making website, the French Fix LLC.

“I see every day that something gets bombed,” Nathalie Halbout said, explaining her reasoning to continue to support the war effort over a year on.

When the war began, the Halbouts began a rescue mission to bring Dvokina and her parents Alla and Vladimir to the United States from Ukraine. While Dvokina made it to the United States, Dvokina’s parents Alla and Vladimir went to live with her brother Matvav in Prague.

Nathalie Halbout said it is possible that the family may never see each other again due to the age of Dvokina’s parents and Dvokina’s Temporary Protected Status, which may prohibit her from leaving the United States and being able to return.

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The fundraiser was held in partnership with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County’s social justice committee and adult religious education committee. Ann Sherwood, chair of the social justice committee, said she had met Nathalie Halbout last fall.

“It seemed just like a no-brainer to do a fundraiser. And I never expected it to be as wonderful as this,” Sherwood said.

The event included an auction of artwork, a performance by the band Barva and a demonstration of the Ukrainian Easter tradition of decorating eggs known as pysanky.

Steve Kichen, a friend of the Halbouts who tutors Dvokina English, came to the event with his wife Ina, who is active with immigrant causes.

“I do what I can to help,” Steve Kichen said. “Whenever I see someone has a collection or something, just a little here and little there.”

Ina credits their Jewish heritage for wanting to help.

“Jews have a whole history of being kicked out of here and kicked out of there,” Ina Kichen said. “We feel very fortunate (there are) no bombs falling on our heads.”

Ulana Joslin, who is of Ukrainian descent, sold flowers from her company the Flower Barn at Locust Pointe in Middletown. Her flowers are genetic relatives to a dahlia from her mother’s garden from the 1960s.

Joslin said she came to the event to help fundraise for the Halbouts’ first aid kits.

“I’ve been kind of a mess for the past year, knowing what’s going on in my home country,” Joslin said.

The Halbouts asked Jason Wojnar’s band Barva, which sings cover Ukrainian rock and pop songs, to perform at the fundraiser after meeting him at a Ukrainian wartime photo exhibition in New York City. Wojnar, who studied at a conservatory in Kyiv for five years until the full-scale invasion began, said he hopes to return to the city.

“I became so comfortable there, I consider it my home,” Wojnar said. “I’m homesick here, even though I’m born here.”

Jenny Santa Maria, an artist who demonstrated traditional Ukrainian egg decorating at the event, said some of the designs stretch back thousands of years ago. The star design, she said, is about 5,000 years old and calls for the hastening of spring.

When the fundraiser dwindled down from its 70 guests to about 15 people, Santa Maria wished “that we get to see in the very near future that Ukraine finally has peace.”

Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Middletown NJ Ukrainian family raises funds at Orthodox Easter