Yeheniia Razumnykh’s son Matvil and two other young Ukrainian girls who fled with their mother from Ukraine hold up the ‘Sophie’s Closet’ sign. (Submitted photo/Sonya Jahn)

By Sonya Jahn and Yeheniia Razumnykh

LETTER OF THANKS

Ukrainian families thank Prince Albert for warm welcome

Aug 2, 2022 | 2:09 PM

The following letter was written by Yeheniia Razumnykh, who arrived in Prince Albert earlier this year after fleeing Ukraine.

“Many people now say: “We can’t imagine what is happening in Ukraine now. We don’t know what we would do in such situation”. Yes, just a few months ago we could not imagine all these too. But your life can be broken in a moment. And even if you have no idea what to do, you have to do something.

Canada became our choice because we were looking at first for a safe place for our children and an opportunity to work. During the first weeks of the war, Europe accepted millions of Ukrainian women and children. It became more difficult to find work and housing there every day. The Canadian government gave us such an opportunity, and our friends proposed help with housing. We were grateful for that and did not expect anything more. When we arrived in Canada, we were scared and tired. We left our families, homes and everything we had.

But in Prince Albert and other cities, thousands of people joined forces to help Ukrainians. They spent their time, money, and, most importantly, gave the warmth of their hearts. They do everything in order don’t feel ourselves stranger and lonely here. We got everything we needed to start a new life. Our children were warmly welcomed and supported at school. They will have the opportunity for further studying in safety.

There are not enough words to express our gratitude to everyone we know and those we don’t know. Many of these people have become as our family. We don’t know where we will be in the future, but we will always be grateful for the help we received during difficult times for us. Peace for Ukraine! Prosperity for Canada!”

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Sincere Thanks

The following letter was submitted by Prince Albert resident Sonya Jahn who helped coordinate help for families arriving from Ukraine.

Many of us have been watching the news of the war in Ukraine feeling helpless and wondering what we can do to make a difference. I would like to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to the individuals and businesses in Prince Albert and surrounding communities who have been making that difference by stepping forward to assist the families who have fled their war-torn country of Ukraine and have arrived in our city.

Since mid April, friends and acquaintances have teamed up to volunteer and donations have arrived in anticipation of the newcomers consisting mostly of women and children. The families originate from various regions of Ukraine. More than 21 families have arrived and are now residing in Prince Albert.

It began when a gentleman by the name of Herman Lewis kindly offered his Bed and Breakfast home of over 5,000 square feet. He and his wife ran this B&B for more than 12 years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This spacious and beautiful historical home has ample room for five families. It provides shelter and a possible new beginning for these families. A sincere thank you to Herman Lewis for his kindness and generosity.

Knowing accommodations were available to welcome new Ukrainian families to our community, Sonya Jahn reached out to local Ukrainians who have lived in Prince Albert for 10 years or less to see if their families and friends in Ukraine would like to seek refuge in Prince Albert. It would be beneficial for the new Ukrainian families arriving to have support systems in place and they would not feel lonely with other family and friends already here. It became immediately apparent that Ukrainian families would begin to arrive shortly.

Sincere gratitude goes out to volunteers and donors who have been donating non-perishable food for the “Food Pantry” for the arriving Ukrainian families. Other donations include clothing, footwear, gift cards for groceries, personal hygiene products, bicycles, furniture, bedding, linens and items needed to create a home in Prince Albert. Sincere thanks to the people who have kindly offered their homes as accommodations for these young Ukrainian families at no cost. This support has been truly incredible and heart warming to see the kindness of Prince Albert community members and businesses. We do live in a wonderful part of Saskatchewan.

Donations have been generously coming in from various communities from Shellbrook, Parkside, Canwood, Harris, Warman, Christopher Lake, Birch Hills, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Calgary and even as far away as Kelowna.

Many thanks to the businesses who have contacted me with employment opportunities for the Ukrainian families eager to find employment. Businesses such as Canadian Tire, Market Tire, Impact Mechanical, Mr. Mike’s Restaurant and MNP have hired several newcomers.

What people may not realize is that most of the Ukrainian families who have fled Ukraine because of the war are very well educated. They have left behind their husbands who have stayed to serve their country and they have left their homes, meaningful personal belongings, and family members and friends who were not as fortunate to be able to flee.

Sincere thanks to the principals, teachers and students who have welcomed new Ukrainian children into their classrooms as the school year was about to end. Your kindness did not go unnoticed.

Thank you to the Prince Albert Minor Soccer Association for supporting the Ukrainian children who have an interest in playing soccer in Prince Albert by providing free soccer registration for the upcoming season.

Thank you to the City of Prince Albert for providing Kinsmen Water Park passes for the Ukrainian families.

A sincere thank you to the Superannuated Teachers for providing school supplies for the Ukrainian children beginning in September.

A huge thank you to the local firefighters for assisting with the relocation of donated items for the Ukrainian families.

Submitted photo/Sonya Jahn)

As we anticipate more new Ukrainian Families will arrive to Prince Albert in the near future, we have established a location called “Sophie’s Closet” stocked with new or like new items for Ukrainian Families. These items will be provided at no cost to help furnish Ukrainian families’ accommodations here in Prince Albert.

The name “Sophie’s Closet” was chosen in honor of a little girl on the right side of the photo above. Sophie was born in Ukraine. She came to Prince Albert from Ukraine on June 21, 1931 together with her mother and older two sisters. Sophie did not know what the future would bring for her and her family as they would arrive here in Prince Albert.

At this time no further clothing, bedding or furniture donations are required for “Sophie’s Closet”.

However, donations of new personal hygiene products such as: shampoo, deodorant, socks for women, young children and teen girls & boys, combs, hair brushes, feminine hygiene products, personal care products like nail clippers and new or like new towels are still required.

These specific required donations can be dropped off at:

79 11^th Street West

Monday to Friday (9:00 am -4:00 pm)

Please call 306-953-8622 before dropping off your donation.

Also, community members should be aware that Calvary United Church (306)763-8695) has established a benevolent fund to assist Ukrainian families in Prince Albert and they will accept cash donations for this purpose.

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