St. Demetrius Catholic School Raises $950 dollars for Stream of Hopes and Kids in Ukraine

Month of May was a month of fundraising at the St. Demetrius Catholic School in Toronto.  With an initiative from a couple of teachers and with the support of the whole administration, over 220 children, teachers and staff took part in a fundraising effort for Stream of Hopes and the kids we support in Ukraine.

Over the month of May, the school from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 held two Civies Days, where kids brought a donation and could wear regular clothes instead of their traditional uniforms.  Over these two Civies Days, the school with the help of parents, teachers, administration and school staff - raised a total of $950 dollars which were directly donated to the Bukovynska Mriya festival in Ukraine, where over 1,000 orphans from all across Ukraine gathered over a week to get away from their regular lives and have fun, sing, play, swim and get to be regular kids for those few days.  Additionally, at the end of the festival, which was today - each child prior to coming there wrote a letter of dreams, and each of those dreams were granted by donors during a huge ceremony in the Carpathian Mountains. 

The money collected by St. Demetrius and their students and staff were donated to this festival and of the total:

$350 dollars went towards the rental of the main tent which acted as the main pavilion where all of the games, concerts, performances, dances occurred.  Additionally, it was also used to purchase breakfast buns for all of the kids during one of their morning activities.

$600 dollars which translated to over 11,000 hryvnia went towards providing food for all of the kids throughout the festival.

The response has been tremendous, all of the kids really enjoyed their tent, food, and other activities that were supported by the amazing efforts of St. Demetrius School and their kids.

We send a huge thank you to all of the students and staff as well as parents of St. Demetrius School and parish for this tremendous effort, for this generous contribution and a huge fundraising effort that helped set the stage for a very happy, fun, successful and inspiring Bukovynska Mriya festival, which was attended by a record number of 1,031 orphans from all across Ukraine.

A short, simple and yet powerful story of selflessness and support

A few weeks ago our organization received a message from a family in Saskatoon who had a few questions for us.  They were wondering how they would go about donating some money on behalf of a company towards the efforts of Stream of Hopes. 

More specifically, the individual has been working for a local firm here in Saskatoon, who as a thank you to their employees and to acknowledge their length of service they've had with the organization, grants their employees a gift of their choice, or they allow for their employee to select a charity or non-profit organization of their choice to whom they would like to forego the gift and donate $125 dollars.

This individual chose "Stream of Hopes" as the organization of his choice, and after the company went through their internal review whether we were a legitimate non-profit, what our activities were focused on, who we were and how we worked with the Saskatoon and Ukrainian community, we proudly and with honor received a cheque donation from that company on his behalf for $125 dollars. 

This individual chose not to receive any personal gift, nor take any material reward for the work they've been doing and the present they deserved, but chose to donate to something they felt was bigger, grander and more impactful.

This shows a huge understanding and selflessness from this individual and their family to help those who are less fortunate, who are disadvantaged and require that help, more than we can imagine. 

We would like to thank them as well as the company for allowing their employees to take these initiatives.

Updates on Parcels and Donations

It feels like it's been a while since we last wrote some updates for everyone, and yes, indeed it's time for some news.  It's been a busy month of packing, collecting, shipping, raising donations, and many other organization-related and personal activities.  Mainly our focus this month was to make sure that we can assist Marta and the many many kids who would be arriving to Bukovynska Mriya festival with anything that she/they may still require and what do you know, with your help we were able to help.

We are proud to say that with your donations, we have surpassed 1,300 kilograms of items and humanitarian aid that we have shipped to Ukraine.  That is a tremendous feat especially given the fact that this all started in late January (a little over 4 months ago).

In addition to the itemized donations, we are continuing to raise funds and receive donations from individuals and organizations, and have now surpassed over $6,000 dollars that we have raised in total (of which most have already been spent and sent to Ukraine).  Just this week we have had two anonymous donations one for $200 dollars and one for $250 dollars go towards our efforts. We thank every single individual and their tremendous efforts that go into supporting this initiative!

We are very excited to share some more news items with you, but they will come as additional posts, so please do click through our news items, and we hope that you are as inspired as we are to continue working towards this amazing cause, to continue pushing the boundaries and limits of what we can do, to continue supporting these amazing children and families who are in such desperate need for our help and assistance.

Additionally, just this week we have received an amazing donation of two almost brand new wheelchairs for kids, that were packed and shipped a few days ago and will be utilized by kids who really need a way to be mobile, to be interactive and included.

Thank you to all who have continued with us, who have joined us in the past little while, who are learning about us and thinking about how they can help, who are spreading the news around Saskatchewan, Ontario and Canada about who, what, where and how is this "Stream of Hopes" and what are we really here for.

Over ONE TON sent and $5,000 raised thanks to you and your donations

It seems like it was so long ago, when we sent our first parcel that took some time to collect and aggregate.  Back in mid January is when we sent out our first call to donate for a parcel to Ukraine and on January 29th, just a little over 3 months ago we sent our first parcel to our partner organization "Future of Ukraine" and to our kids. 

Countless volunteer hours later from literally hundreds of individuals across Canada have been dedicate to making this effort grow and prosper.  People have been donating many things, clothes, baby items, creams, food, toys, shoes, wheelchairs, basic medicine, soccer balls, medical equipment amongst many other things.  We don't even remember how many pairs of pants, shirts, shoes, dresses, onesies, baby formulas and toys we've sent, but they're in the thousands.  In addition, people have been donating money to support the shipment of parcels and we have also sent over $1,500 dollars directly to help kids with their rehabilitation, with surgeries, with access to basic necessities like food and bread, to buying a goat and a television for the common space at the children's hospital.  On top of all of that, people have been donating precious time - driving our parcels, packing and sorting through things, helping deliver items from Saskatoon to Toronto to Ukraine, brainstorming efforts, talking and writing about us.  The effort has been unimaginable!!! 

Our crowdfunding campaign has raised over $3,000 dollars in just 74 days of running and through other private donations, we have surpassed $5,000 dollars in support.

Today, we reach another tremendous milestone in such a short period of time.  Today we shipped another 133.9 kg worth of aid to Ukraine and our kids. 

With this shipment in just a little over 3 months, we have pushed our total to be over 1,000 kg or ONE TON. 

To be accurate, with your support and donations, we have sent a total of 1,115 kilograms of aid to over 3,000 kids and families in Ukraine.  In just three months we have achieved what takes some organizations countless months and efforts to collect and send this kind of help.

We cannot thank you enough for everything that you have done and everything that you are continually doing.  It is because of you that children in Ukraine are being fed, are being clothed, are being cared for, are getting healthier, are not feeling left out and are supported by the one big family that we've created here with the STREAM OF HOPES.

Please keep spreading the word, letting others know of us and what we are doing.  Please keep supporting and helping as you are helping change the lives of thousands of children.  You are all AMAZING and we bow our heads in gratitude to all of you and thank you for your tremendous support and belief in us and our efforts.  May all the good that you are doing, return to you exponentially and may you and your families be blessed with health and love for many many years to come. 

Saskatoon Youth Soccer Inc. donates over 160 soccer balls

Thank you to Saskatoon Youth Soccer Inc. for your support and donation!

The response has been tremendous and very quick!  Just before the weekend we contacted the Saskatoon Youth Soccer Inc. organization with the hopes to see whether they had any spare soccer balls they could donate to our Grand Toy Drive for Bukovyns'ka Mriya. 

On Monday, I received an email from their Executive Director, Amanda M. Probe asking when can we come and pick them up as well as whether we could gather a small team to help deflate the balls.  Little did we know just how many balls there would be. 

Without an official count, we think there are over 160 soccer balls.

Arriving there with my SUV, I thought, no problem, I will just load them up and take them home.  Well 5 trips later, this is what our garage at home looked like.

I will post more pictures as we start sorting through the immense amount of soccer goodness.  In addition to the balls, we also picked up two boxes of long sleeve shirts as part of the donation.

This is our first large contribution from a local association here in Saskatoon and we cannot thank the Saskatoon Youth Soccer Inc. and their membership as well as their Executive for their tremendous donation that will impact many of our kids in Ukraine. 

We hope that this sets the stage of just how we can work together to benefit these kids, who have become truly dependent on your donations and support.

Thank you Saskatoon Youth Soccer Inc. for your support and contribution to our efforts in Ukraine.  We truly appreciate this gift and will keep updating with more pictures.

Stories from Ukraine

This is Bohdanchyk, who just returned from Odessa where he had surgery on his one functioning eye.  The bandages have been removed and the surgery was successful.  Now the focus is on the rehabilitation efforts of his cerebral palsy, working on his paralyzed arm and leg as well as learning how to speak. 

This is a family from a small village of Zinkivtsi in the Khmelnychyna region.  There are 5 children in this family who are loving, caring and supportive of each other.  Sashko who is 7 years old has been fighting cerebral palsy and is proving that he is a strong young man.  Mom told a story, that due to the oversight in doctor’s orders, a couple years ago, while Sashko was in the hospital they removed a totally healthy and functioning kidney.  They didn’t provide an explanation, and didn’t want to give the paperwork to the family about the removal of the kidney.  Today, Sashko’s only kidney is getting sick, he has infections, heightened fever which can be very harmful because it can trigger his epilepsy.  Doctors told the mom they don’t know what to do with the child and sent him sick home.  He is now in constant need of medication that are expensive and the family can’t afford to purchase.  The other children are Julia who is not even 2 yet, Oleh who is 5, Anya who is 12 and Lilya who is 14.

This is Nazarchyk, who has cerebral palsy.  He has been going through a tremendous amount of rehabilitation and has such a strong will to get up and keep walking and playing by himself.  He just got back from Odessa where they were going through intensive rehabilitation and outfitting him with braces to help walk.  They are constantly trying to raise funds to send Nazar for more treatment and mom can’t do it all on her own.  This child has so much will and strength to work hard and keep progressing and advancing with his efforts.

This is Bohdanchyk from Vashkivtsi.  While his mom is working he lies in bed and has memorized all of the cracks and lines on the ceiling of his house.  He really misses being outside and although thanks to a group “All will be alright” he has a beautiful wheelchair, he cannot go outside because nobody is there to spend a bit of time with him, outside of his mother who is working hard to take care of her son.

This is a story of a single father, Ilya who is raising two kids on his own, while working and taking care of the finances of the family.  A year ago his youngest child passed away and wife left him with the other two kids.  He has been a tremendous dad taking care of these two kids.  His daughter went into first grade and son into kindergarten.  They now have a cow, a pig and a goat to help provide for the family.