Former Alberta premier Ed Stelmach addresses those in attendance at the Rotary Club of Red Deer's Ukrainian Christmas celebration held at St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Catholic Church on Jan. 9. 2023. (rdnewsNOW/Sheldon Spackman)

By Sheldon Spackman

orthodox christmas

Ukrainian refugees receive warm welcome at Rotary Club meeting

Jan 10, 2023 | 3:34 PM

Over 100 people, including dozens of Ukrainians who’ve fled the war in their country, gathered at St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Red Deer Monday to celebrate Ukrainian Christmas.

Also known as Orthodox Christmas on January 7, the Jan. 9 luncheon was hosted by the Rotary Club of Red Deer and featured special guests including Red Deer-North MLA Adriana LaGrange and former Alberta premier Ed Stelmach.

Darcy Mykytyshyn, Rotary Club president, says their organization has wanted to help the people of Ukraine and those who’ve come to Red Deer since the start of the war, in some way.

“We figured our dollars could be best spent in Red Deer,” he explains. “Back in the summer, we put $5,000 towards helping Ukrainian families resettle in Red Deer.”

“This event is also the first Rotary meeting of the New Year,” he continues. “We always make it a Ukrainian Christmas celebration and we thought, what would be more appropriate than inviting a bunch of Ukrainian families that have resettled in Red Deer to be part of it, make them feel welcome as it’s been a tough year for them, and if there’s anything we can do to help them ease that toughness, then that’s what we’re doing here today.”

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St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Red Deer. (rdnewsNOW/Sheldon Spackman)

Mykytyshyn further notes Rotary is all about the business community, so he hopes local businesses will also help Red Deer’s new Ukrainian residents.

“If there’s a way we can help families coming to Red Deer get employment, get settled, become part of the community, maybe even become Rotarians one day, that’d be great for everybody, “ he believes. “I encourage anybody that owns or runs a business in central Alberta to consider bringing one of these folks onto their team. I think they’ll find they’re hard-workin, dedicated and they’re going to want to make their business a success at a time when people are having a hard time finding labour.”

Vira Korol arrived here five months ago, feeling there was no future for her six and 10-year-old sons if they stayed.

“Maybe in the future our situation will change, but currently our children cannot visit school (in the Ukraine) or study, so we left Ukraine and came here. Red Deer is our first city,” she explains.

Korol is working as a housekeeper currently, landing the job after one month here.

“It is very difficult to find a job without the language,” she admits. “But I am thankful they have given me a chance to work because without language, it’s very difficult.”

(L-R) Nadiia Pasichnyk and Vira Korol. Both fled the war in Ukraine last year and are now residing in Red Deer. (rdnewsNOW/Sheldon Spackman)

Speaking through an interpreter, Nadiia Pasichnyk, another recently arrived Ukrainian, says she chose central Alberta to resettle as she has relatives in the area.

“I am working but because of limited English, what I can find is minimal; not that much choice. But people are helping me in whatever way they can, so I’m very thankful and very grateful for everything that has been done.”

“Depending on what happens over the next little while, if there is an opportunity of some kind that gives us a future, then we would stay,” she said.

Ed Stelmach, co-founder of the Ed Stelmach Community Foundation, an organization dedicated to assisting children in need, or families struggling with counselling, poverty or abuse, says the foundation allocates roughly $60,000 per year toward small Alberta charities, in addition to three post-secondary scholarships and a bursary to Lakeland College.

“Because we have the mandate to take care of children, we’re in a perfect position to start helping children that have been affected by the war,” says Stelmach. “Our first call was for donations of various supplies and money, but the supplies were warehoused in Edmonton and we sent it by aircraft to Poland. We had a warehouse full of medical supplies, diapers, personal hygiene products, clothing, and some food.”

The foundation then sent another eight sea containers to Ukraine in early spring.

“Through Aid for Ukraine, we raised $794,000, so we’ve taken some of that money and helped organizations like the church here providing services,” says Stelmach. “We’re also sponsoring some English as a Second Language instruction throughout Alberta. Plus, we sent money to a few orphanages in Ukraine for food and now we’re in the process of buying smaller generators because they’ve lost power. They might get power three hours a day, so they connect a small generator to the building so they can operate the heat pump.”

Meantime, officials with the Ukrainian Displaced Persons Planning Committee for Central Alberta say they have been working tirelessly for the past 10 months, assisting displaced persons from Ukraine who are coming to our area.

The committee has a warehouse, say officials, which is said to have helped countless families with basic furnishings for apartments.

“The support of the community has been amazing, but we are constantly getting new families coming and do need basic kitchen supplies, bedding, quilts, new pillows, towels and furniture for apartments,” reads a statement from the committee. “We are desperately in need of mattresses that are clean and in good condition. If you have anything like this to donate, please contact Emily at 587-877-6655. Thank you for your overwhelming support.”