Community pulling together for Ukraine

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This article was published 18/03/2022 (1460 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ELMWOOD

EAST KILDONAN

Holy Eucharist Ukrainian Catholic Church has long been a place of refuge and worship for the Ukrainian community in northeast Winnipeg. Now, that community is rallying to provide humanitarian aid to refugees of the war in Ukraine.

For decades, volunteers from the church have gotten together on Thursday mornings to make perogies, which are sold in batches of a dozen as a fundraiser for the parish.

“This was a small project, to help after we built the new church,” said Elaine Bowman, a lifelong parishioner whose parents were involved with the church before her. “There was a small group that did everything by hand.”

“When the invasion happened in Ukraine, Lillian (Deptuch) and Elaine got word to me that they wanted to help in some way,” said Rev. Michael Winn, pastor at Holy Eucharist. “We all have an anxiousness and frustration. We can’t bring the perogies to them, but in some way we’re helping.”

Orders for perogies are placed ahead of time, and picked up on Thursday mornings. A dozen perogies sell for $7, a dollar of which will now go towards humanitarian relief in Ukraine, by way of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Currently, upwards of 600 dozen perogies are going out each week, though Deptuch, one of the organizers of the project, said in times before COVID, some weeks over 1,000 dozen perogies were made.

“Most of us here were born here,” said Winn, whose family settled near Dauphin, Man. when they immigrated to Canada years ago. “But we still maintain relationships with family in Ukraine. We’ve heard stories in the office this past week of people who can’t get hold of their family back in Ukraine. There’s anxiety, and this, in some way, helps.”

Mary Bochen, a volunteer and parishioner at Holy Eucharist, said she has been trying to contact her niece and nephew in eastern Ukraine since the invasion began, but at press time had no luck.

“I don’t know whether they’ve crossed the border or if they’re still there,” Bochen said. “I’m trying to get in touch through the Red Cross, to see if they know anything.”

Having the community come together to do something for Ukraine is comforting, Bochen added.

“I feel very close to my church, so anything I can do to help will be a benefit,” she said. “Any little thing we can do will be helpful.”

Tatianna Cwyk, another volunteer and parishioner, had been in touch with her son and daughter in eastern Ukraine as the invasion began.

“My son, right now, collects all men in the city and teaches them how to use guns, how to shoot,” she said. “It’s terrible. I call my daughter. She’s crying, crying, crying.”

With refugees from the war in Ukraine expected to arrive in Winnipeg soon, Winn said the church is preparing to help those who come to Winnipeg get settled.

“If people want to start saving stuff at home, clothing, appliances, all the stuff you’d need to establish a home will be needed,” he said. “We don’t know when they’re going to come, but we will figure that out. Once we figure that out, we’ll put an announcement out and we’ll find a place to store it until it’s needed.”

In the meantime, while parishioners at Holy Eucharist are praying for an end to the violence, they plan to continue making perogies and sending money to those in need.

“The war, these people didn’t do anything for Russia to come in,” Bochen said. “It just doesn’t make sense to me. All these innocent people are getting killed, and for what reason? I just feel bad for Ukrainian people, and also the Russian people who don’t know what’s going on. I just hope the world can do a little more than what they’re doing.”

“We hope everything will be OK,” Cwyk said. “We hope.”

To order perogies from Holy Eucharist, call the perogy hotline at 204-667-6304.