Immaculate Heart of Mary School celebrates 120 years

North End

Winnipeg

Alumni of a historic North End Ukrainian Catholic school are being called upon to give back in order to help others receive a cultural, faith-based education here in Winnipeg.

Founded in 1905 by the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate in the North End, Immaculate Heart of Mary is Manitoba’s only kindergarten to Grade 8 Ukrainian Catholic school. Since it opened, the school has had thousands of students pass through its doors.

“The nice thing is the classes are small, so I can name most of the people I graduated with 25 years ago,” said Katrusia Chabluk, who attended the school from Grades 4 through 8, along with her two siblings.

“The feeling of home, the community support and love that you got from the teachers, and that spiritual connection that you get is something that you want to share and pass on and carry on with you as you grow into the person you’re going to be forever.”

Originally known as St. Nicholas School, Immaculate Heart has been in the same location on Flora Avenue since it first opened. The current building was constructed in 1963. This year, there are 220 students enrolled, approximately one-third of whom are newcomers from Ukraine. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, over 100 newcomer children have joined the IHMS community.

“What we’ve been doing, particularly since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is the sisters and the board made a decision to cover tuition and school-related costs for newcomers,” said Katherine Fox, CEO of the Lubov SSMI Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate.

“It’s one less thing for them to worry about, one thing we can do to support community. But we’ve also had a really robust bursary program all along. There have always been kids in need.”

Immaculate Heart of Mary School is now calling on alumni to contribute in a drive to raise $10,000 for its bursary fund. According to the school, more than one in three IHMS families depend on financial aid to cover the costs of their children’s tuition, including many new Canadians. Through the Lubov Foundation, in conjunction with BCU Wealth Management and the BCU Foundation, the school is calling on graduates celebrating their 10th, 25th, 35th, 50th, and 60th-plus anniversaries this year to donate to the bursary fund. BCU Wealth Management will match all donations.

“Sometimes people think, ‘What’s my $50 going to do?’” said Chabluk, who is local lead for BCU Financial, a Canadian-Ukrainian credit union that opened its first branch in Manitoba last year. “No gift is too small. Anyone who has felt the impact the school had on their life, please consider giving.”

“This is an institution that has had a big impact on the community, when you look at things like five of the current staff were students at one point,” said Fox, who attended the school from kindergarten through Grade 9 (which it offered at the time she graduated in 1987). “We have grandparents whose grandchildren now go to the school. It’s a special place. It’s welcoming, it’s diverse, multicultural, faith- and values-based.”

“There are quite a lot of cultural communities who send their kids to the school, so its cool to see people from all different cultures sharing Ukrainian culture and song, which is really special,” Chabluk added.

For more information, or to contribute to the bursary program campaign, visit lubovfoundation.ca