Help
Us Help The Children Celebrates 10 Years
It
was a very special evening for the Children Of Chornobyl Canadian Fund
and its largest project, Help Us Help The Children. On May 10, 2003 more
than 500 volunteers and supporters of HUHTC gathered in the Barbara Frum
Atrium of the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto to celebrate ten
years of hard work and achievement.
The
evening was filled with drama and excitement with many of the organisation’s
key benefactors in attendance. Among them was Eugene Melnyk, newly-minted
owner of the Ottawa Senators. Melnyk left the Senators’ game in overtime
to fly from Ottawa to Toronto to address the gathering. Also in attendance
was Viktor Yushchenko,former
Premier of Ukraine and leading contender for the upcoming Presidential
elections. Yushchenko re-arranged his travel plans for a week-long visit
to Canada, arriving a day earlier to attend the HUHTC Gala.Closer
to home, Jim and Louise Temerty, also generous benefactors of the project,
took time out from their fundraising activities for the Royal Ontario Museum
to assist in the organization of the event.
Under
the soaring ten-story Atrium of the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, the evening
was launched with a moving dance executed by the Arkan dancers entitled
“Always One More”, choreographed especially for the gala by Danovia Stechishen.
The
dance was immediately followed by a prayer –“Bohorodytse
Divo” –sung by Olenka Slywynska accompanied
by Daria Filip, both volunteers of the project. Bishop Cornelius Pasichny
blessed the meal.
The
evening’s program featured addresses of the three key supporters of the
project, Temerty, Melnyk and Yushchenko, as well as greetings from the
federal and municipal governments. A brief video, prepared for the evening
by Ihor Krut, highlighted the past ten years of the project’s work. Scenes
depicting delivery of humanitarian aid, the organization of summer camps,
the provision of medical and dental services to the orphans and abandoned
children in Ukraine, gave the audience a good overview of the complex and
multi-faceted work of the organization.The
video also included scenes of students participating in HUHTC’s recently
established scholarship program.
The
Gala featured a surprise guest, Milya Mashkovtseva, one of the orphans
under HUHTC’s care since 1997, who was flown in from Ukraine especially
for the event.Milya is now 20 years
old, has completed her post-secondary education and is studying to become
a lawyer. She speaks both English and Ukrainian, is engaged to be married
and, in an effort to reciprocate, now volunteers with HUHTC in Ukraine.Milya
is one of HUHTC’s many success stories.She
addressed the audience on behalf of the thousands of orphans assisted to
express gratitude and appreciation.
The
keynote speaker of the evening was prize-winning journalist and author
Victor Malarek, well-known to audiences as one of the hosts of CBC's The
Fifth Estate. Malarek delivered a moving speech about the plight of young
women in Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe who often turn to prostitution
as a way of making a living. Many of these young women, the “Natashas”
of Europe are the products of orphanages who, upon leaving the institutional
setting, find prostitution as the only alternative for supporting themselves.
Malarek’s book on the Natashas is due out this summer.
A
major element of the evening’s rich and variedprogram
was the awarding of special medals of recognition to those volunteers who
had made a significant contribution to the organization over the past ten
years.Ruslana Wrzesnewskyj, co-founder
and moving force behind the project, delivered a heartfelt speech of thanks
and appreciation to her family, friends and supporters for their assistance
over the past ten years. Ruslana made a point of thanking the project’s
three key supporters, Melnyk, Temerty and Yuschenko, whom she dubbed “the
three wise men” of the project. She also made a point of thanking her country
Canada for nurturing a climate of volunteerism amongst its citizens.
The
evening closed with two numbers from the Ukrainian Dance group Desna and
was followed by dancing to the music of the Kari Ochi band. Attendees had
the opportunity to put in their final bids for a large and varied Silent
Auction in the lobby of the Canadian Broadcasting Centre.
–
10th Anniversary Gala Organizing Committee, Digital imaging courtesy
Lu
Taskey.