Belarusian community marks 35th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster

CHICAGO – To mark the 35th anniversary of the tragic disaster at Chornobyl, the Belarusian community of Chicago hosted a tree-planting event in memory of the victims of the nuclear disaster on the morning of April 25. The Park District of Chicago supplied tree saplings and bushes, which were planted on the beach at Toughy Ave. and Lake Michigan. 

St. Andrew Society marks 30 years of service, plans for new projects

 

SOUTH BOUND BROOK, N.J. – The Saint Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Society in 2020 marked its 30th anniversary since it was founded in December 1990. The organization’s mission continues to support the rebirth of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine and to promote Christian ideals through charitable and humanitarian efforts. Its humanitarian aid projects have helped refugees in Ukraine, with aid provided in Kyiv, Pereyeslav, Chernihiv, Ternopil, Chernivtsi and Mariupol. Through its Soup Kitchen Program, which is boosted by the annual Souper Bowl Sunday soup fundraisers that are organized by local chapters of the Ukrainian Orthodox League of the U.S.A., over 4,000 hot and nutritious meals are provided per month at cafeterias, churches and social service centers in Ukraine. While in Kyiv during March of this year, Archbishop Daniel, who was joined by the Rev. Taras Naumenko of St.

St. Nicholas Cathedral capital campaign now in full gear

CHICAGO – The ongoing capital campaign, “Building Our Faith Together, in Unity and with Gratitude,” of the St. Nicholas Eparchy began nearly two years ago on May 12, 2019. It was undertaken to sustain the long-term viability of the St. Nicholas Eparchy and to restore the 114-year-old Cathedral in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village, particularly the cupolas and roof.  Considerable progress has been made in the eparchy’s effort to raise funds for the project, as campaign donations have surpassed $2.4 million.

Saroya Tinker standing up and speaking out

It was only a little over a decade ago that a 12-year-old girl in Oshawa, Ontario, suffered through the trauma associated with being told by a teammate to, “Shut up, you stupid n—–,” in a hockey arena’s dressing room. This, of course, was not the first time Saroya Tinker experienced the disgust of racism. The first times go back to when she was a little girl on the ice who was occasionally shunned by her fellow skaters, made to sit in a certain area of the dressing room and not always included in off-ice activities. Sometimes the racism was more covert and ignorant, like the time her Ukrainian Canadian mother, Mandy, was asked which girl was her daughter, and when she pointed Tinker out, she was told, “Crossbreeds make the best athletes.” Tinker, whose father is Jamaican, still has difficulty comprehending that the episode really happened.

Concorde Capital announces Veres Rivne soccer club IPO

PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Ukrainian investment company Concorde Capital announced on March 14 an internal IPO for the Ukrainian soccer club NK (Narodniy Klub) Veres Rivne, based in Rivne. This is the first time in 15 years that such a move has occurred in Ukraine and the first time that a professional Ukrainian team is to be publicly listed.

Ukraine braces for Russia’s next moves as Zelenskyy offers Putin meeting in Donbas
President enables call-up of army reserves as 120,000 Russian troops at border

KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy challenged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to a meeting in the war zone of eastern Ukraine as the country’s warring neighbor has now amassed more military forces than when it first invaded in 2014-2015 amid a high-intensity war.

In addition to deploying 120,000 troops around Ukraine’s state border and in occupied Crimea, Moscow has limited maritime traffic through the Azov and Black seas, and vastly reduced the supply of diesel fuel, a critical component of the country’s industrial economy.

COVID-19 death toll in Ukraine reaches 40,000

LVIV – After one of the harshest periods of COVID-19 in Ukraine, the country appears to have passed a peak of the pandemic. A forecast from the National Academy of Sciences shows that mortality from COVID-19 is in a final phase of the plateau, with a decrease in mortality expected in the coming days.  The government, however, has decided to continue a national quarantine until June 30, preparing for the possibility of a new spike in cases after Easter, though the first batches of Pfizer vaccines under the COVAX initiative arrived in Ukraine.

Dr. Bohdan Czepak, long-time activist and community leader in greater Cleveland

Dr. Bohdan R. Czepak (1937-2021), a long-time activist and community leader in greater Cleveland, passed away on April 9 after an extended illness. He was 83.

Professionally, Dr. Czepak was a plastic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University Hospital and Lutheran Medical Center specializing in hand surgery, helping thousands of patients over his more than 50 years of practice and winning widespread praise in the process.  He was especially devoted to the greater Cleveland Ukrainian community, serving as a board member of the Ukrainian Museum-Archives, securing very generous contributions and grants over the years which will be ongoing with his legacy contribution.