As the war in Ukraine gets more horrific by the day, Laguna Woods Village residents are reaching out to help.
About 90 people gathered April 8 at Clubhouse 5 for a meeting intended to raise awareness and funds for Ukrainian refugees. It was sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women (Saddleback Chapter), ORT America, the Shalom Club, Hadassah, Laguna Woods Friends of the Jewish Federation-Orange County and the Reform Temple of Laguna Woods.
Greeted by a comfort quilt crafted predominantly in yellow and blue after the Ukrainian flag, the attendees had come to donate to local organizations providing aid to Ukrainian refugees. Funds were to be allotted for the American Red Cross, UNICEF-Ukraine and HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society). HIAS helps immigrants and refugees of many nationalities and ethnicities.
The quilt was part of the fundraising effort. Created by Donna Karbach and Ruth Naomi Buck of the Crazy Quilters Guild, the piece of art fetched $300.
That money was given to Anastasiya Polo, a musical artist who is helping to register Ukrainian refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I went to Mexico two weeks ago and, with seven other young volunteers, put together an electronic registration program to facilitate the border crossing and settlement of the refugees,” Polo said at the fundraiser.
So far, they have helped 1,500 Ukrainian refugees cross into the U.S. in an orderly fashion, she said, and are raising money for more electronic equipment such as iPads to help in the registration process, along with food and blankets, she said.
“The stories about the bombings and the suffering are heartbreaking,” she added.
Yuri Dench was among the speakers at the fundraiser.
In the United States for 22 years, Dench lives with his wife and children in Aliso Viejo. While his father is from Ukraine and his mother from Belarus, Dench was born in Estonia and had visited his grandparents in Ukraine often, he said. He also has family in Russia, he added.
He said the Russian invasion has created what amounts to civil wars among families, with the Russian family members largely believing President Vladimir Putin’s propaganda about the suffering in Ukraine being overstated or even staged.
“The war has divided the Ukrainian and Russian sides of my relatives,” he said. “I blame the Russian media for spreading falsehoods about the war, that Ukraine is governed by Nazis and fascists.”
Statistics from the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), a think tank in Washington, D.C., say that according to Russian pollsters, the war is supported by 65 percent to 71 percent of the Russian population. However, CEPA also says that according to independent research, the number hovers closer to 58 percent support and 23 percent to 34 percent opposition.
Dench spoke of Ukrainian family members, a couple with four kids, hiding in subway tunnels during bombardments. After their building was destroyed, the family fled to Warsaw, Poland, and eventually settled in Portugal.
Laguna Woods Mayor Carol Moore served as moderator for the discussion. Among the other speakers were Jackie Menter, director of OCJCR (Orange County Jewish Coalition for Refugees) and consultant for HIAS; Aliso Viejo Mayor Ross Chun, who serves as director for the Red Cross Southern California District; and Dot Leach, representing the Women Drivers Interfaith Group.
“We used to settle refugees because they were Jewish. Now we resettle any refugees because we are Jewish,” Menter said. “Last week we had 3,000 (Ukrainian) entrants in Mexico. The average wait for entry into the U.S. was two to three days.”
from Signage https://ift.tt/sfnh29d
via Irvine Sign Company
