Dopomoha Ukraini Foundation gives $500,000 to care center (01/08/06)

Dopomoha Ukraini Foundation gives $500,000 to care center

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Dopomoha Ukraini Foundation is donating $500,000 to the Ukrainian Canadian Care Center to aid with the expansion of the long-term care home and to establish a secure unit for residents suffering from dementia-related disorders.

Borys Wrzesnewskyj, member of Parliament for Etobicoke Center, presented a check on behalf of his family's charitable foundation to Ian Ihnatowycz, (president and CEO, Acuity Investments Management Inc.) and James Temerty, (chairman, Northland Power), co-chairs of the care center's Home With A Heart Campaign during the fourth annual Joy of Lights Celebration on December 8, 2005.

In recognition of the generous gift, the care center will name its second floor in honor and memory of Mr. Wrzesnewskyj's aunt and uncle, Mychailo and Jaroslawa Szafraniuk.

"As a family we are thankful that the care center provided such a warm atmosphere and attentive care to our beloved grand aunt Mrs. Jaroslawa Szafraniuk in the last phase of her life. There is an unwritten understanding, one could say contract, that parents take care of their children when they are young and when they grow old the children take care of their parents. And so it is in society; we owe a debt of gratitude to our seniors for having built our communities and our country Canada; and in their twilight years we have an obligation to make sure their lives are enveloped in comfort and loving care," Mr. Wrzesnewskyj said.

Mr. Wrzesnewskyj's grandparents immigrated to Canada, and three generations of the family have worked to establish prosperous and innovative businesses such as Future Bakery and M-C Dairy. The Dopomoha Ukraini Foundation, the family's foundation, was created to provide assistance to the many community, humanitarian and Ukrainian heritage organizations in Canada and in Ukraine for the past 14 years.

Mr. Temerty stated: "Through the strength and commitment of the Wrzesnewskyj family and the Dopomoha Ukraini Foundation, the care center will continue to provide the best facilities and programming which honor our traditions of caring for those in our community while preserving our heritage. The Wrzesnewskyj family has always been a leader in the Ukrainian Canadian community. This generous gift further demonstrates this leadership and is a testament to the contribution the Wrzesnewskyj family has made to life in Canada."

"This gift is a wonderful Christmas present for the community and a great start to our Home With A Heart Campaign," said Sandy Lomaszewycz, executive director of the care center.

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The Ukrainian Canadian Care Center is a 120-bed ethnic, long-term care home. Its interdisciplinary health care team focuses on the needs of residents and improves quality of life in a culturally sensitive caring environment. The values of independence, self-sufficiency, the importance of family, maintaining active lives and caring for one another, underpin its philosophy of care.

Admission to the care center is coordinated through the Etobicoke-York Community Care Access Center. The on-site Melnyk Family Memorial Chapel hosts Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox pastoral services.

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