Nataliya’s brother Michael finally left Ukraine last month and arrived in Israel several weeks ago after a brief stopover in Hungary. Since Michael was still young enough to be conscripted into the Ukrainian armed forces, he had to get special permission to leave after proving he was the sole breadwinner for his family, which includes his non-verbal autistic son. In May, Michael’s family fled to western Ukraine after withstanding rocket and artillery bombardment in the eastern city of Kharkiv for nearly 3 months. They went to Hungary in June and then sought permission to travel to Israel since his wife had Jewish ancestors.

Since the war began, more than 33,000 Ukrainian refugees have fled to Israel including Jews and gentiles. Michael’s family was eligible for several generous assistance programs since they were coming back under the Right to Return policy. The Israeli government gave Michael’s family some money and temporary housing until they found an apartment in a town in northern Israel near Haifa. Michael isn’t sure what their long terms plans are but is grateful for the generous suppport. He continues to work remotely for an American technology company.

However, that leaves Nataliya’s parents as the last holdouts in Kharkiv. They live in a small village on the edge of the city. Although the urban parts of Kharkiv may have borne the brunt of the Russian assault, rockets still destroyed several buildings, including the town hall, in her parent’s village. Nataliya’s aunt and uncle also lived on the same plot of land as her parents, but they also recently left for the Netherlands. Nataliya’s cousin lives there and just gave birth to a baby boy, so her parents came to help her and escape the fighting.

Nataliya’s mother Iryna feels conflicted about all the changes. She is happy for her relatives but now feels very lonely. In addition, Nataliya’s aunt and uncle asked Iryna to care for several animals they left behind. Iryna is happy to help but feels it’s an extra burden on top of everything else when life is still difficult, and the war drags on with no end in sight.

I am heartbroken that fighting continues in Ukraine, but I have also been pleasantly surprised by the ongoing generosity of Cincinnatians who continue to donate after more than 5 months of conflict.

I had hoped that Americans would not become totally desensitized to the war, but I wasn’t sure that they would continue to volunteer and contribute for months on end. Although the Ukrainian food festival in May was a huge hit that raised $36,000, there were some logistical problems that caused a shortage of parking and created very long lines. We have learned from our previous experience and are hosting our next event, a summer family festival, at the Kolping Center, a large event center in the Greenhills neighborhood. This time, the goal is to raise the heroic sum of $50,000 to buy medical equipment for hospitals in Nataliya’s hometown of Kharkiv which is still under Russian bombardment on a regular basis.

The event will be from 12-7p.m. on Sunday, August 21, since Ukraine celebrates its independence on August 24^th. The event will include more food of course, as well as kids’ activities, arts and crafts, music, and a silent auction.

In addition, there have been several other successful local events that benefitted Ukraine, including a banquet and auction at the Woodward theater in Over-the-Rhine. Several dozen attended the event in June, which raised more than $14,000 for the charity Razom which provides humanitarian aid. The menu featured traditional Ukrainian dishes including borscht (stew), varenyky (pierogi/dumplings), and banyky (stuffed rolls). The event also included a silent auction and Nataliya and I won tickets to the Museum Center. However, the fashion show featuring traditional Ukrainian vyshyvanka (embroidered shirts) was the highlight of the fundraiser. Nataliya has been embroidering her own example, which is beautiful, but the event showcased dozens of examples that were also very intricate. The vyshyvanka at the fundraiser were also auctioned off to the highest bidder and Nataliya got one at a very nice price.

Finally, Yuriy Fedynsky, a Ukrainian-American composer and singer-songwriter performed at the Wyoming Fine Arts Center in June. He gave a very verbose and meandering lecture on the war in the Ukraine and the history of traditional Ukrainian instruments such as the bandura and kobza (both a type of lute). He also explained how the Soviets had purged and executed nearly all of the kobzars (itinerant blind musicians who played the kobza) during the 1930s. He also played a few songs, but I was expecting a little more music and less preaching (literally). Nevertheless, it was an educational event that helped raise money for Fedynsky’s efforts to promote Ukrainian culture. Slava Ukraini!