I would like to share with you some news about a very successful fundraising event which took place last Friday in Ottawa, Canada.
CNEWA Canada in cooperation with a Ukrainian-Canadian community organization, The Ukrainian National Federation of Canada Ottawa-Gatineau Branch, organized a breakfast with a goal to raise funds for families internally displaced by the war in Ukraine.
About 100 people attended. The event brought together CNEWA’s donors, representatives of the Ukrainian-Canadian diasporas and ordinary Canadians from various walks of life who shared a common desire to provide relief for the victims of war in Ukraine.
Bishop Christian Riesbeck, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Ottawa, officially opened the event with a theological reflection and a prayer. The breakfast’s flow was managed by the event’s MC, Father Peter Galadza, director of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies.
Our main speaker was Dr. Andrew Bennett, Canada’s ambassador for religious freedom. In his presentation, Ambassador Bennett shared his insights on the importance of religious freedom in the global context and provided analysis of the challenges to religious minorities on territories that were recently seized by pro-Russian militants. The keynote speaker praised CNEWA’s role in peacebuilding and defense of religious freedom.
The event also featured remarks from members of Canada’s parliament: Jim Eglinski, as a representative of the government of Canada and Paul Dewar, on behalf of the official opposition.
At the conclusion, Carl Hétu, CNEWA Canada’s national director, elaborated on CNEWA’s mission and explained that the funds raised will be used to provide shelter, water, food, clothing and medical supplies to the internally displaced families via regional support centers of Caritas Ukraine, CNEWA’s long-time partner in Ukraine.
We are happy to report that this fundraising breakfast brought in $20,000. This sum adds up to another $20,000 committed by CNEWA Canada for areas with the greatest needs.
Due to the surge of refugees in the Middle East, the problem of internally displaced people in Ukraine has gone largely unreported. (However, you can read a detailed account of the plight of the people of Ukraine in “Casualties of War,” from the Spring 2015 edition of ONE.) Since the beginning of the conflict in Crimea — and later in Donetsk and Luhansk regions — more than one million Ukrainian citizens have had to leave their towns and villages, looking for refuge elsewhere, sometimes in neighboring countries.
To join CNEWA’s efforts to help the people of Ukraine, visit this giving page.
