Ukrainian churches and aid groups in Canada are raising funds and collecting donated items to support those fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Darcia Moskaluk-Rutkay, a director at St. Demetrius Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Toronto, says the secretaries at her church are collecting funds before directing them to Ukrainians through an aid organization called the Canada-Ukraine Foundation and the Canadian Red Cross.
She says people of Ukrainian descent in Canada feel a duty to help those who’ve had to leave their homes because of the war.
The Canada-Ukraine Foundation says it had raised $4 million by Monday and delivered $500,000 of that to provide food packages, medicine and shelter.
Anna Dombrovska, the project officer for Ukraine at the Catholic Near East Welfare Association in Ottawa, says her organization had started raising money for Ukraine before the Russian attack that began last week.
She says the association has received $160,000 in donations and the funds will be sent to the organization’s local partners in Ukraine and neighboring countries to support those who are suffering from the war.
Pastor Volodymyr Yanishevsky of the St. Josaphat’s Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Toronto says a group of volunteers at his church are collecting material donations including clothing, hygiene products and non-perishable food items to send to those fleeing their homes.
He says Ukrainian Canadians are praying for their loved ones and other Ukrainians, and are trying to help them in any possible way.
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in a statement Thursday that 1 million people have fled Ukraine in seven days since the Russian invasion started on Feb. 24.