By Victoria Nicolaou
Though not at the level Niagara was seeing when war began, donations for the people of Ukraine have remained relatively steady as the country marks six months since Russia invaded.
But more items are needed.
While the Canadian government has continued to show its support for Ukraine, with the country announcing new sanctions on 62 Russian officials this week, individual donations have flattened over time.
“We understand that it’s war-fatigue — people don’t want to hear about this anymore,” said Laryssa Doig, who is overseeing the collection of donations through St. John Ukrainian Catholic Church.
“It’s gone from the front page, to the second or third page some days. There are other things happening in the world that are taking its place.”
Doig said the St. Catharines church is turning its focus on shipping to Ukraine, which as been difficult to do as donations have dropped “significantly.” During the early weeks of the war, the church was sending 300 boxes once or twice a week, and its last shipment was 110 boxes — collected over an entire month.
It’s asking for more help: monetary donations (allowing it to buy items on a request list), medical donations and more, including travel-sized bottles of hygiene products and high-calorie food items that are lightweight and easy to transport. Items must not be expired.
Niagara has welcomed a number of families, either staying with family or as refugees, and there will likely be “another influx.”
To help newcomers, Ukrainian Canadian Congress opened a storefront in St. Catharines called the Ukrainian Boutique for Help, which provides free supplies to Ukrainian families. The store continues to be visited regularly, and donations continue to come in, said Newton.
“People are donating to our store constantly. People wanting to donate furniture, people wanting to donate food, money, hygiene products, clothing for children, baby products.”
Still, the goodwill is not what it used to be.
“It’s not like it was when the war first started, because everybody was just wanting to donate, donate, donate,” Newton said, but adding, “People are still very good-hearted. I’m always amazed at the good-hearted nature of our non-Ukrainian community, as well as Ukrainian community.”
Anna Demchyshyn’s non-profit charity, AMD for HOPE — it has partnered with a number of organizations, including Warehouse of Hope and Not Just Tourists, to deliver containers filled with medical supplies to Ukraine — has seen a decrease in donations, particularly since the war hit the three-month mark.
It has been difficult for AMD, founded earlier in response to the war, to raise money to pay for shipping as prices have gone up and as donations have gone down. To continue sending packages to Ukraine, with a fourth container heading overseas this week and a fifth scheduled for September, AMD has reached out to larger organizations, and applied for grants and relief funds, she said.
“The help is needed even more so because so many more places are destroyed at this point than they were,” Demchyshyn said.
“The hype died down, and the real problems are surfacing. People are beginning to realize all these places are getting bombed all the time. There’s no infrastructure in those cities, there’s no hospitals, so where do they go?”
This week marked the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. as Newton called it a “happy-sad thing.”
“How can you celebrate something when there’s a war going on?” she said. “(Vladimir Putin) is targeting civilians and just annihilating them one step at a time. This needs to stop.”
People must not forget about Ukraine, she said, encouraging them to help and give in whatever way they are able.
“(The war) is still going on and it’s worse than ever. We don’t know when its going to end, and we’re asking people not to become complacent and sit back and say ‘same old, same old.’
“It is just going to continue to escalate.”