Two seniors have raised more than $24,000 by making ribbons and flags in the colours of the Ukrainian flag and selling them to fellow residents at the retirement community where they live.
It all started over a cup of coffee, when Tini Hayden was talking to her friend Berte Fraser about wanting to do something to support Ukraine.
The two, who live at Berwick Royal Oak, came up with the idea of selling ribbons with the Ukrainian flag’s colours, yellow and blue, for residents to put on their name tags.
“Tini and I cut material with the colours of Ukraine, ironed and glued [them], then sold ribbons at coffee time to fellow residents by donation,” said Fraser, 85. “I also knitted Ukrainian flags, which residents displayed on their doors.”
The retirement community, on Elk Lake Drive, has approximately 270 residents.
“The fundraiser took off like a house on fire, possibly because some of the residents have gone through World War II,” said Hayden, 82. “The plight of the Ukrainians also reminded me of my parents, who lost everything in World War II before they came to Canada in 1949.”
Hayden, who was born in the town of Lisse in the Netherlands, said when she went looking for blue and yellow ribbons, she found they were sold out everywhere she looked. She eventually found some leftover material that she cut down to make the ribbons.
They collected $24,000, which they decided to donate to the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The church has a partnership with Caritas Ukraine, which distributes humanitarian aid such as medical supplies, hygienic supplies, food and other emergency necessities through 30 locations in the country.
The church revealed that it had a benefactor family that was willing to match the two friends’ donation, doubling their contribution to $48,000.
Father Yuriy Vyshnevskyy of the church plans to drop by Berwick Royal Oak next Tuesday afternoon to thank the residents and pick up the cheque — and possibly stay for coffee.
