About $21,000 was raised for Ukrainian refugees coming to the Sarnia area Saturday, an official with a local fundraiser says.
“Just want to do a shout-out to say thanks for all the volunteers who have helped over the past month,” said Cassandra Taylor, an organizer with the Pysanky and Perogies event at St. George’s Ukrainian church.
Three 80-spot pysanky – Ukrainian Easter egg decorating – classes were booked Saturday, and 250-dozen perogies had sold out and orders were being taken for more, she said.
Dozens of raffle and auction items and donations also contributed to the sum, said Taylor, who has family who haven’t been accounted for in the country that’s been invaded and under attack from Russia.
“Keeping my mind off of it,” the local physician said.
“But you know, Sarnia has just been an absolutely amazing community and they always come together to help and support an important cause.”
The church is also working with Bethel Pentecostal to help bring over refugees from Ukraine, she said, noting the number of families coming so far could be 15 to 20.
More are expected, she said.
“We know that the money is going to stay here and help the refugees that we were able to get here,” she said.
A pastafest fundraiser at the Dante Club scheduled Sunday was also expected to add to the tally, she said.
“What we’re hoping to do soon is working with the other churches in the communities, creating like a central location that we’ll be able to have people donate housewares, toiletries, even gift cards for groceries and whatnot to help” the refugees , Taylor said.
“Because we don’t know what they’re coming with when they come here.”
Up to 50 women helped make the 250-dozen perogies for the event, she said. Those were sold out by 11 am
If people want to place orders for more, they can email [email protected], Taylor said.
Pysanky, using beeswax and dye to make sometimes intricate patterns on eggs, is something Taylor said she recalls doing at the church when she was younger and attended Ukrainian school.
It hasn’t happened as much lately, but could start again with the local Ukrainian community set to grow, she said.
“We’re definitely going to be doing it there and getting more kids involved,” she said.
The introductory courses Saturday included kistkas, used to make the wax patterns, brought from Ukraine, she said.
“This is cool because we’ve never actually done this before,” Taylor said about the classes.
Planning for the fundraiser and gathering donations and raffle and auction prizes happened over the course of about a month, she said, after a vigil at the church in late February.