(Larry Hrytsay and Theresa Zabiaka representing the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund, accepted a $5,000 donation from Dauphin Kings president Ashley Shaw and external relations chair Rae Csversko at the junior A hockey club’s Ukrainian Night celebration, Saturday.)

A new fund has been established to help families fleeing the war in Ukraine find a new home here in the Parkland.

An initiative developed by Don Tarrant of Reit-Syd Equipment with the assistance of Darryl Zamrykut of Zaplitny and Zamrykut , and Jason Beyette of Johnston and Company Law Office, the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund will help at least one family, and hopefully more, with relocating expenses.

“If people are going to elect to move out of Ukraine and come to Canada, I just think this is one of the best places for them,” Tarrant said. “Ukrainian culture is very strong here. We’re the home of Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival. We’ve got a full-time site and museum. I just felt that we would be a really welcoming home for them.”

And to get the fund off to a strong start Tarrant committed $25,000 to the initiative and is hoping that other local businesses, government agencies, families and individuals come on board.

“We really, really want to help and want to make our contribution very, very effective,” Tarrant said, adding the $25,000 seemed like an effective way to do that.

He is hoping the community sees it as a worthy cause.

“When people donate, like ourselves, they can have good value for the money. If you donate to another cause it goes over (to Ukraine) which is all well spent, but it’s gone,” he said, adding money from the fund will be spent locally while still aid in the relief effort. “It makes it better for the whole community and for the people that could potentially move here.”

And unlike a lot of charitable organizations which earmark a percentage of donations for administration costs, 100 per cent of donations to the fund will be used for the intended purpose.

All legal and accounting services have been donated and Fusion Credit Union has waived banking fees, Tarrant said.

“Darryl and Jason, they’ve stepped up. Fusion Credit Union, they were asked to set up a trust account and they did. Then they agreed to take the donations and they’re not charging anything for it. It is all donations.”

Also answering the call is the Ukrainian Folk Arts Centre and Museum Inc. (Selo Ukraina), which will hold and administer the fund and, as a non-profit organization, will provide tax receipts for donations.

“They approached us and as a group our board of directors said, ‘yeah not a problem,’” said Selo board member Larry Hyrtsay. “We’re quite happy with it. I fits us great. It only took us about 30 seconds to make the decision.”

The Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund will be used to provide a one-time gift for one or more families immigrating from Ukraine as a result of being displaced by the Russian invasion. The fund will cover travel and moving, food, shelter, clothing and any other necessities of life to allow for an easier transition to life in the Parkland.

Families will be eligible for funding if they settle in the Parkland for a yet-to-be-determined minimum amount of time and have lost their primary residence, property, business or place of employment in Ukraine.

Tarrant hopes the fund can help as many families as possible. There are just too many unknowns at this point to say for sure how much it will cost to sponsor a family. He expects, however, it might cost as much as $50,000 for a large family.

“Maybe if the federal government puts the money in to get them here that stretches it out. If we have some in-kind stuff that stretches it out,” he said, adding he has purposely not attached a fund-raising goal to initiative. “I think that we should say at this point it’s unlimited. The initial response to it has been really positive.”

Tarrant added the fund will soon begin accepting material donations such as food, toiletries, furniture, clothing and bedding, as well, which will make the cash donated go that much further.

“We’re gonna work at getting something figured out here real quick for in-kind stuff which will really stretch the cash out,” he said.

If people have in-kind stuff in mind they can contact myself or let their church know or let the board members of Selo Ukraina know. We’ll make a list of the stuff and have it ready to go, There will be something set up here soon.”

Anyone who wants to make a monetary donation to the fund can mail a cheque to the Ukrainian Folk Arts Centre and Museum, Box 658, Dauphin, MB, R7N 2V4. Cheques need to be made payable to the Ukrainian Folk Arts Centre and Museum.

Donations can also be made in person at any Fusion Credit Union branch.

Anyone wanting more information can contact Hyrtsay at 204-648-5904 or Karen Showdra at 204-648-3567.