Saskatoon Ukrainian school fundraising for country under attack

A Ukrainian school in Saskatoon is going above and beyond to do something for the country that many of its staff and students consider home.

Stacia Horbay Ugalde, principal of Bishop Filevich Ukrainian Bilingual School, said students have chosen to invest their energies into what can be done to help people in Ukraine get through the war with Russia.

The school is working on a long list of fundraising efforts to make that happen.

Students have been decorating postcards with messages of hope and peace to send with care packages to people in Ukraine who are fighting or hiding, trying to survive and protect their homes.

Postcards designed by students at Bishop Filevich Ukrainian Bilingual School in Saskatoon to accompany care packages being sent to Ukraine. (Libby Giesbrecht/650 CKOM)

The cards are decorated in blue and yellow with images of Ukrainian flags and sunflowers — a symbol of hope — as well as hearts and more Ukrainian imagery.

A by-donation hat day Thursday at the school gave students the opportunity to wear a hat during the day for the cost of $1 as a smaller fundraising effort to collect money for support. Classrooms at the school have each been tasked with collecting various medical supplies like gauze and bandages to be sent to Ukraine.

Students have also partnered with another school in Saskatoon to make and sell ribbon bracelets in the colours of the Ukrainian flag for $5 each, with the money raised going to relief efforts in Ukraine.

Horbay Ugalde said the school will be continuing with mini fundraisers each week until Easter, as part of Lent.

The principal shared it has been an emotional few weeks at the school as students have adjusted to the news of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

While the news of the invasion first broke over the school’s February break, Horbay Ugalde said her first thought went to the several staff members at the school who are first-generation immigrants with family still in Ukraine.

Her next reaction was physical.

“(There were) tears immediately because it’s that realization that a culture is being invaded. A city, a country is being invaded. And it could be an attempt to wipe out an entire … history that I’m attached to,” Horbay Ugalde said.

It has been a solemn few weeks since she saw that news during her morning coffee.

Many students also have connections to Ukraine and family still in the country. Horbay Ugalde said the weeks since have been filled with students phoning family, having conversations about the war at home and encouraging those conversations at school as needed.

“The first week was very quiet, very solemn. (There were) lots of hugs, lots of shoulders to cry on, lots of reassurance that we’re here to talk, we’re here to support each other and help each other through,” she said.

Horbay Ugalde said the school supports prayerfulness, unity and people working together, especially during this time.

“We are really much focusing here in the school (on) showing that peace and that hope and what we can do for kindness to ensure that the rest of the world feels that support and is kind to one another,” she said.

Sofiia Garmarsar, a student at Bishop Filevich, was born in Ukraine and moved to Canada 11 years ago with her family. Her grandparents and aunt are still in the western part of Ukraine and are safe for now, she said.

Garmarsar has been involved in the fundraising at the school, making ribbon bracelets and wearing spirit colours. She said it’s important for students “to do and help as much as we can.”

“I feel like our culture, it’s just so different from any other culture I’ve seen and we need to keep it alive because it’s just so special,” Garmarsar said.

She said her family has been struggling since first hearing that Russia had attacked Ukraine, but they’re trying to stay hopeful.

“It’s been hard but we’ve been doing good. We’ve been trying to help as much as we can,” Garmarsar said.

Much like her school’s work to focus on the positive, Garmarsar has seen joy in the midst of tragedy over the past number of weeks.

“Everybody just wants peace and love,” Garmarsar said. “Whenever we call our grandparents, they’re always smiling, they’re always laughing (and) telling jokes, so I think it’s going to be OK.”

She said the message coming from Ukraine is one of hope and certainty that the country will endure through this war — because Ukraine belongs to Ukrainians, and no one will succeed in taking that away from them.

While her school is putting in a lot of effort on its own to support Ukraine, she is encouraging others to send money to official charities and fundraisers to help, as well as spread awareness about the issue.

Stacia Horbay Ugalde, principal at Bishop Filevich Ukrainian Bilingual School in Saskatoon, with some postcards and a bracelet made by students for Ukraine fundraising efforts. (Libby Giesbrecht/650 CKOM)

Horbay Ugalde is “100 per cent Ukrainian,” she said — fifth generation on one side of her family, third on the other. But she was “born and bred in the Ukrainian community.”

From attending Ukrainian school from kindergarten through Grade 12, studying Ukrainian dance, taking some Ukrainian studies in university, and finally working as a teacher, vice-principal and principal at a Ukrainian school, Horbay Ugalde said she is deeply connected to her culture and it is very dear to her.

“It’s the culture I grew up in, speaking the language, practising the culture, the faith aspect of it as well. It’s just part of my daily routine,” Horbay Ugalde said. “My name as well … and this whole last couple of weeks has really impacted that feeling of (being) fortunate (to) be free to practise our faith and our culture and our language here in Saskatoon and in Canada.”

The outbreak of war has really allowed her to realize the unity of the Ukrainian community surrounding her.

“It’s the prayers we say in Ukrainian. It’s ensuring we use the language when we can,” she said. “(My culture is) just a daily thing. It’s not something I have to search for.”

That’s what Horbay Ugalde wants her students to take with them from their time at Bishop Filevich.

“We just really want our kids to feel part of a community,” she said.