Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine: The Impact of Your Support…and the Ongoing Need
On February 24, 2022, the world looked on with shock and grief as Russian troops invaded Ukraine, resulting in Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II, with around 7.2 million Ukrainians fleeing the country and 1/3 of the population displaced.
Within days, Myriad Canada was hard at work with several donors committed to finding a way to help, including the Korwin-Szymanowski Family Foundation who approached KBF to provide logistical and fundraising support as well as eventual management of the humanitarian-aid project to be implemented overseas. A sold-out ‘Concert for Peace’ was held at the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal on March 22nd, 2022, followed by several other fundraising events, including an on-line theatre production, the sale of art work and a second concert.
In total, over $200,000 was raised and Myriad Canada began working with the Folkowisko Foundation, a dynamic Polish organization that has become the proverbial ‘little organization that could’, stepping in to try to fill the urgent needs of millions of people – all at once and in the dead of winter.
A Herculean Undertaking
During the first month of the war alone, the Folkowisko Foundation sent nearly 3,000 tons of humanitarian aid to those most in need in Ukraine. They have equipped several Ukrainian hospitals with modern equipment, delivered 50 power generators, and their 5 ambulances are now being used in Kiev, Bila Tserkva, Irpin and Yavoriv.
Ukrainian and Polish kids at camp
Today, Folkowisko’s efforts are geared towards the 7 million internally displaced people within Ukraine: delivering food, medical supplies, clothing and more to people and places in need; setting up heating centers in Ukrainian towns ahead of the cold winter; training Ukrainian women to offer psychological support to refugees within Ukraine while simultaneously providing their children a well-needed respite from the conflict; the “Books not Bombs” program that provides Ukrainian books to refugees in Poland; “Victory Gardens” to collect and send seeds to grow food in Ukraine; and more.
Marcin Piotrowski and Basia Psiuk, two of the Folkowisko Foundation’s founders.
Ukraine Still Needs Your Support
The needs are still enormous – but the flow of aid has slowed significantly. As Marcin Piotrowski, one of Folkowisko’s founders, explained: “The first wave is over. Now there is so little coming from all over the world, there is less help going to Ukraine. We are struggling with a lack of supplies, especially food and medication. Nearly everything is needed”.
This project was established to facilitate donations from Canada for humanitarian projects in support of Ukrainians impacted by this war. We are proud to be working with the Folkowisko Foundation to address these urgent needs and we thank YOU for supporting this critical work.
Please support this project now by donating to Myriad Canada’s Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine Fund.
Myriad Canada visited the Folkowisko Foundation in July.
Click here to see our visit to the Folkowisko Foundation!
Myriad Canada thanks the Korwin-Szymanowski Family Foundation and the TD Private Giving Foundation for their extremely generous support of this project.