Warmth for Ukraine Project
Santa Cruz Textile Arts Guild & Friends in Capitola, California
Feelings of great gratitude abound today. We hope the Warmth for Ukraine Project will fill a need for so many without electricity in the frozen, muddy, snow laden countryside and cities. Our box is stuffed full of warm gloves, hats, scarves, shawls, blankets, and more. The generous outpouring from our community is heartwarming, and so appreciated. We stand united and in solidarity with Ukraine.
Our outreach project developed after contacting Veronika Ivanoff, who lives in the Citrus Heights, California. She herself a refugee from many years past, knew of many textile artists directly affected by the invasion in Ukraine. “Nika” traveled to Poland and with her nursing degree, was able to aid refugees fleeing, and those in need of medical aid, using her multilingual language skills to communicate directly with the people. She contributed without hesitation last April when the need was great for those fleeing. She works directly with an agency called Global Disaster Relief Team that sent skilled medical professionals to hot spots in Ukraine and border countries.[1]
GDRT Mission Statement: “We procure donated medical supplies and deliver them ourselves to the places in Ukraine where they are most needed. We evaluate the need on the ground and see how, using the resources in our diaspora community, we can fill them”.
Winter has set in, and the bombing continues. Trying to stay warm with the electrical stations challenged with drone bombs, the situation is dire with temperatures in the zero-range day and night. The electrical grid can be repaired but only if the engineers can get the equipment needed. They are stretched beyond belief trying to keep up.
Nika suggested that if there was a way our group could get items made for men, women, and children and even babies, she could provide contact information so our box would be delivered to a volunteer in Kharkiv. It is our hope that the 80 plus items we gathered will help those in need.
Some of the warm scarves in our box.
Most were either hand woven, crotched, knitted, felted, or sewn. Thank you to all who contributed items, lovingly created with hearts and hands in mind and gave generously to pay shipping costs.
Marilou Moschetti
Santa Cruz Textile Arts Guild
Medical Care Station in Przemyśl, Poland – March 05 – May 30, 2022
See personal interview of Nika https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbtsFemqhSI
[1] Global Disaster Relief Team, Inc. is a 501(c)3 organization formed by a group of U.S. medics in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.