The image above is from the Rally here in Toronto taken by my husband, Alastair
Dear Friends,
Thank you for all your support for my homeland and its people. Your warm emails have sent much love our way, and I can not express enough how much it means to us all.
As we stay updated on the daily situation in our homeland Ukraine, I have begun taking action in the ways that I know. My sister and I are currently working on a video to help bring attention to the need for help from us all to the Ukrainian people. The video will soon be published on my social channels, including YouTube & Facebook.
Please stay tuned and be ready to share it! You have done so much for me in the past, I know I can count on you helping us connect the people in need to the humanitarian assistance they all need right now.
Meanwhile,
Here are some of the charities I have supported that provide humanitarian and other assistance to Ukraine:
https://www.plantingpeace.org/donate
https://animalfoodbank.org/supporting-ukraine
https://support.peta.org
https://www.pawsitivityservicedogs.com/ukraine
https://happypaw.ua/en/contribution
https://www.redcross.ca
https://eng.dobrodiy.club
https://bcufoundation.com/about-us/
Most of them work first-hand with refugees and animals.
A large part of my funds in this round of donations went to helping animals, refugees and their pets. We also know there is huge crisis of rescuing and feeding zoo animals currently back home.
Here are some other sites who help on the frontlines:
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2022/2/27/we-are-going-to-defend-ourselves-ukrainians-join-war-front
https://sites.google.com/view/standwithukraine
We tried finding locations to give food to, locally around Toronto, but most of them said they only accept medicine or monetary donations at this time.
My friends in Kiev say that the highest need is in medicine and first aid, and I recommend finding organizations that can provide that help from your area.
*Please note that I recommend these sites based on my own and my family’s knowledge and research. If you have better sources, please feel free to share them! I personally plan to continue doing a round of donations totaling $200 a month for the next year. This is how much I can afford at the moment, but I know that every effort counts and makes a difference for the families in this time of crisis.
I have also been supporting other fellow artists who created channels to send funds to Ukraine from their charities, such as: https://www.lisabatiashvili-foundation.org/
If you or a friend have a charity that you’d like me to share, I will be happy to send it here with our newsletter to over 6,000 subscribers.
Sadly, the repercussions of this conflict will be seen for many months and perhaps even years, before Ukrainian people can return to their peaceful lives, therefore we must act now and build the foundation to help.
I believe in unity and in the power of peace through music. I have been blessed to be living in Canada for the past 18 years, and I am eternally grateful for its safety. I believe in the common cause between Canada and Ukraine and the whole world of kindness, and I believe that when we work together we can achieve anything. We, artists living in peaceful countries, can lead by example and show the world that all conflicts can be resolved peacefully.
Be safe and be well my friend!
~Vira
📸Image by: Serenko Nata🙏🏻