Letter: Let’s make helping out Ukraine a Medicine Hat and area community effort

By Letter to the Editor on May 17, 2022.

To our community and area,

We believe there must be many in our community and area who would like to help some Ukrainian evacuee families from Mariupol that would like to settle here in Medicine Hat. I’m sure you can imagine the amount of help our group needs to make this happen. Immigration, flights, transportation, accommodations, food, clothing, furniture, translating, schooling for children and adults, employment, English as a second language skills, medical needs, etc.!

The group that is already working towards this goal is Hatters Helping Ukraine. George Kovalev and family from Mariupol, now a Canadian citizen, started this group. There are four families close to getting on a flight to Calgary. George has 20 other families in line and there will be more to come. The money promised by the Canadian government has not materialized.

When refugees leave Ukraine, most have little to no money in their pockets. They can’t get money from banks that have been destroyed by war.

We would really like it if we can make this effort a Medicine Hat and area community effort.

Let’s get behind seriously helping Ukrainian evacuees. What we need immediately is funding. Cash, cheque, gift cards for food and clothing. We need free accommodations for these families for at least three months. We need employers willing to hire. We need volunteers to help. We need families and businesses to adopt families.

We need your help!

If you are willing to help please make your donations to the Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta or the Facebook page HattersHelpUkraine. You will receive a tax receipt. You can also drop off donations to MacKenzie Eye Care Centre.

Next we need volunteers to host families – people who can meet the new families and help them feel welcomed into our community and answer questions. Help them with their new accommodations and help settle them. Invite them to meet your family and maybe invite them over for dinner. To volunteer, contact Catherine MacKenzie for further information at hattershelpukraine@gmail.com or contact Niki Grey at the Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta, or Paul MacKenzie at MacKenzie Eye Care Centre.

Catherine MacKenzie

Hatters Help Ukraine

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