African
Famine Relief Cheque to UNICEF
Toronto
- On October 28,
2011,
the Ukrainian Canadian Congress presented a cheque for $110,000 to
UNICEF
Canada for African famine relief. The funds raised were deemed eligible
for the
federal government’s dollar matching program, which means that
the Ukrainian
Canadian community’s campaign was able to leverage an additional
$110,000 and
provide $220,000 in total direct assistance to African famine relief.
“I
would like to thank
all the members of the Ukrainian Canadian community who made such
generous contributions
to this important campaign and to the Somali Canadian community for
their close
cooperation,” stated UCC President Paul Grod. “National
Holodomor Awareness
Week runs from November 21
to 27, 2011... it is
fitting... to help the
Somali people because we know firsthand the horrible impact of
famine.”
The
Ukrainian community
campaign to collect funds for famine relief was chaired by Borys
Wrzesnewskyj.
“Over the past months, over 500 children’s voices went
silent every day as they
lay their skin and bone bodies on to Somalia’s arid soil and
became one with
the earth,” stated Wrzesnewskyj. “However, thanks to the
Ukrainian Canadian
Congress, its benefactor, and many donors... villages will resonate
with the
most beautiful of sounds, children’s voices.”
“UNICEF
is now reaching
1.2 million people in Somalia
with access to clean water, nutritional supplements and life-saving
vaccinations,” says UNICEF Canada’s President and CEO David
Morley. “This
response will be required well into 2012, so the ongoing generosity of
supporters like the Ukrainian Canadian Congress is critical to saving
children’s lives.”
Participating
in the
cheque presentation was Holodomor survivor Stefan Horlatsch, who
stated: “In
1932-33, in
[the] “Bread Basket of Europe”... starving Ukrainians who
sought to flee in
search of food had no way of escaping death. Millions perished in a
deliberate
campaign of starvation by the Soviets. It is a shame to see people
dying when
we have more than required. Let’s help people in need,
let’s save Somalia.”
PHOTO
L. to R.:
Khadigia Abdullahi Dales,
Dr. Cadigia Ali, Abdirahman Islaw Mahadalle, Paul Grod, Amran Abdulle,
Dr.
Mohamed Gilao, David Morley, Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Stefan Horlatsch, Ann
Szyptur