Forty-five seconds.
That’s all it took to fill a request for an iPad tablet posted on Facebook by the Prince George For Ukraine Initiative.
Mary and Don Antoshko, whose home in the Hart on Nixon Crescent has become a cluttered clearing house of donated goods to help Ukrainian families fleeing the war in their homeland, were stunned at the rapid response when somebody saw their post and volunteered to buy the brand-new tablet computer.
It was to replace an older iPad the family of a disabled seven-year-old boy relied upon to entertain and communicate with their non-verbal son. In less than a minute, the Antoshkos realized the generosity of a Prince George resident has been stirred. Word about the smashed tablet spread in the community and before long MEDIchair NorthBC donated an attachment to fasten the new computer to the boy’s wheelchair.
“The support we get from the people of Prince George is absolutely phenomenal, we’re just overwhelmed” said Mary Antoshko. “The boy was in one of those umbrella strollers since February and when he got here in May and had no muscle tone whatsoever, but they will work with him at the Child Development Centre with whatever physiotherapy he’ll need.”
The Antoshkos took over the Prince George Yalenka Ukrainian Society’s humanitarian branch when Peter and Dianne Buhan moved to Kelowna and for many years they’ve co-ordinated donations to charities in the Ukraine. They were just about to send eight boxes of school supplies when the Russians invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The Antoshkos joined forces with the Share Hope Refugee Sponsorship Committee, which previously helped families from Iraq and Syria get settled in Prince George. They offered to take on the task of co-ordinating donations of clothing, furniture and household goods to take some of the burden off Ukrainian families who are arriving in the city with whatever belongings they can fit in one suitcase.
The basement level of their home is a maze of shelves loaded with furniture, clothing, bedding, kitchen items, toys, books, bikes and just about everything needed to set up an apartment or house. Virtually all the floor space in the lower half of the house, their carport and Mary’s upstairs sewing room are jam-packed with items donated to the cause.
“You know that TV show, Hoarders, we’re way past that,” joked Don.
Thankfully, they’ve found an expert willing to volunteer to keep the flow of goods in and out of their home a smooth-running operation. Liliia Miroshnyk arrived in Prince George on May 24 with her husband Oleksii and their three daughters from Merefa, Ukraine, a suburb of Kharkiv, where many of the Russian missile and bombing attacks have been targeted since the war began.
Until the war began, the 36-year-old Liliia managed a thrift store run by a charity in Merefa and she is now utilizing her retail skills to create an online database to catalog all the goods donated to the Antoshkos. On Wednesdays, Liliia and her twin 13-year-old daughters Masha and Dasha spend hours at the house photographing each item and they post the photos using the Telegram app. That allows the other Ukrainians refugees in Prince George to see what’s available and they are encouraged to make lists of what they want. The items are then placed in boxes, put into a trailer, and delivered to the Yalenka Community Hall for the people to pick up.
Don Antoshko, a retired Prince George firefighter, has family roots in the Ukraine and he and his wife Mary have been active members of the Yalenka Ukrainian Cultural Society for 25 years. In 2008, they spent nearly a month touring all over Ukraine, a country of 44 million in an area the size of Alberta. Ukraine ranks as the poorest country in Europe, with a per capita gross national income of $3,540 US in 2020.
“They were 30 years behind other countries in 2008,” said Mary. “But the people just embraced us when we were there.”
There are now 13 Ukrainian families and 60 individuals already in Prince George, with more war refugees on the way later this week. As the war drags on, there’s no end in sight to the danger facing the people still in Ukraine and the Antoshkos plan to stay involved as long as their help is needed.
“I know it’s not going to be forever; they’re not going to need a lot of ongoing support,” said Mary. “These families get a job within the first week or two, they find ways of dealing with things, they’ve very independent people.
“I don’t think there will be a lot of people going back to the Ukraine because a lot of people right now have nothing to come home to.”
Wednesday marked the 31st anniversary of the Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union and it was emotional day for Liliia and her family. She left behind her mother and 86-year old grandmother, who were unable to follow the Miroshnyks to Romania due to her grandmother’s medical conditions. They’ve been living the past six months in an apartment in Merefa, under constant threat of more bombing attacks. The windows of her grandmother’s home were blown out by previous explosions and are covered with plywood.
“They don’t want to replace the glass because they don’t know if it will be blown out again,” said Liliia. “Plywood is reliable.”
The Share Hope committee has established a network of professional support which includes a retired pediatrician (Marie Hay), English skills teacher (Olga McLeod) and trauma counselling (Charis Counselling Services). Volunteers are assisting in finding jobs (David Fuller), accommodations and housing (Eva Gillis) and a family doctor/dentist of vision specialist (Hay). The group also has a fundraising/donations chair (Dick Mynen).
Share Hope helped connect some of the Ukrainian newcomers with Ness Lake Bible Camp and the UNBC Timberwolves kids soccer/basketball and through the Prince George Catholic Diocese eight families had the exclusive use of the church’s facilities at Camp Maurice. The Yalenka Dance Group is offering free memberships for them and the Prince George Track and Field Club has also waived its fees.
Right now, there are 27 school-aged children among the 60 people from Ukraine who have come to P.G. this year, but those numbers are expected to more than double between now and the start of the school year after Labour Day.
Most of the Ukrainians who have just come to the city are from regions where winters are mild, comparable to that of Kelowna or Kamloops, and they fear what’s in store for them in a Prince George winter.
“Families are scared about the incoming winter, so they’re already asking about winter stuff,” said Mary. “The Knights of Columbus donated 35 brand-new kids’ winter coats. Kids want to do the Canadian thing and play hockey and we were asked last week about hockey equipment but we don’t have any.”
They’re also short of beds, pillows, lamps, desks and desk chairs. The Bon Voyage Inn is remodelling its rooms and is donating chairs, nightstands headboards and dressers, but it just replaced its beds and bedding last year.
The Mennonite Cultural Centre has stepped up in a big way to find apartments at reduced rates for the new arrivals. Federal government settlement funds provide a one-time payment of $3,000 for each adult and $1,500 per child. Once registered for the federal program, refugees are eligible for provincial funding that ranges from $935-2,193.50 per family per month for up to six months. Private donors to Share Hope also fund grants of between $500 and $3,000 per application.
More host families are urgently required to provide temporary homes for the new families expected to land in Prince George over the next few weeks. More information on all the services Share Hope provides is available on the website or by contacting the group through email at [email protected].
Next Tuesday at 6 p.m., the kids who have fled Ukraine are invited to the Yalenka Community Hall at 933 Patricia Blvd. to receive backpacks loaded with back-to-school items donated or discounted by Canadian Tire, Costco, Staples, Real Canadian Superstore and Shoe Warehouse. Share Hope will be giving out school supplies, lunch bags, drink containers, running shoes to each kid and 20 laptop computers will be handed out.
