By O. Kondrashov and J. Crego
Image Credit: Barb Hollingshead’s Friend
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, marking the start of the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II (Crawley, 2022). As the war rages on the impacts have been profoundly felt around the world, including in the small city of Cranbrook, British Columbia. Located in Canada’s southeast Kootenay region near the US border, Cranbrook is home to over 20,000 residents, including a growing population of Ukrainians and Ukrainian-Canadians. Since the earliest days of the war, the Cranbrook community has mobilized support efforts for the embattled nation through advocacy, fundraising, resettlement initiatives, and even sending a local resident overseas to directly aid Ukraine’s defense. The story of how this modest community came to take up the Ukrainian cause speaks to the human impacts of war and the power of global solidarity in times of crisis.
Initial Community Response
Within days of the invasion, Cranbrook residents began organizing to assist displaced Ukrainians. City Councillor John Hudak spearheaded an effort to facilitate the resettlement of refugees to Cranbrook, working to identify housing and coordinate the required paperwork (Crawley, 2022). The goals were both altruistic, offering safe haven to those fleeing violence, and personal, as some residents had family in Ukraine hoping to escape. A parallel grassroots group called Shelter for Ukrainians Society soon formed as well, led by President Bonnie Spence-Vinge, also focused on refugee resettlement to the Kootenays (Crawley, 2022).
At the same time, the conflict spurred some residents to more direct involvement. Seventeen year old Anastasiya Ishchook, who immigrated from Ukraine as a child, applied to join the Canadian Armed Forces as the fighting began (Coulter, 2022). While primarily motivated by the situation in her homeland, she hoped her service could help defend against future wars abroad. Local resident Curtis Bond also took action, resigning his job to volunteer in Ukraine’s international territorial defense legion (Crawley, 2022). With military experience as an army combat engineer, Bond felt compelled to stand against injustice, in keeping with Canada’s legacy of leadership on issues of “freedoms and democracy” (Crawley, 2022, para. 15).
Early Fundraising and Advocacy
Grassroots fundraising and demonstrations arose across Cranbrook in solidarity with Ukraine. The Knox Presbyterian Church hosted a candlelight vigil in late February, with offerings taken to support humanitarian relief (Van Boeyen, 2023). Other local advocacy events included resident Penny Luft standing on a downtown street corner holding signs supporting Ukraine, as captured in a newspaper photo that ran on March 3rd (Coulter, 2022).
By mid-March, the Shelter for Ukrainians Society https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090091218948 was already assisting displaced families with resettlement, alongside networking to facilitate financial donations and material support (Crawley, 2022). The Society https://shelterforukrainians.org/index.html would go on to formally incorporate as a registered charity in order to provide tax receipts for donors. Other fundraising events that spring included charity golf tournaments, music festivals, Canada Day food sales, and more, raising thousands of dollars split between local settlement efforts and humanitarian aid sent abroad (Crawley, 2022).
Ongoing Resettlement Operations
The work of the Shelter for Ukrainians Society continues today, having expanded well beyond initial expectations. As of August 2022, they have assisted 11 families comprising 21 adults and 14 children to find new homes in communities including Cranbrook, Kimberley, Creston and Invermere (Crawley, 2022). Ten additional families were also in the settlement process at that time. Finding housing, employment, accessing healthcare and education, providing translation services, and meeting a spectrum of basic needs represents a monumental lift largely supported by volunteers. While a handful of the first arrivals have since moved elsewhere, some now consider the Kootenays a permanent new homeland.
MPs Voice Support
On March 2, Kootenay-Columbia Member of Parliament Rob Morrison condemned Russia’s invasion, saying “Canada should provide assistance to Ukraine” through military aid and tougher economic sanctions (Crawley, 2022, para. 5). BC Minister Anne Kang echoed this sentiment a year later, praising the “incredible support, compassion, empathy, tenderness and humanity” of British Columbians who stepped up through “countless hours” of volunteer work and other gestures of solidarity with Ukrainians (Kang, 2023, para. 9). At the national level, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has engaged with allies to coordinate billions in financial loans, humanitarian relief, weapons transfers and more over the past year (Brewster, 2024). While parliamentary rhetoric cannot undo the destruction of war, these statements recognize the conflicts reverberations from eastern Europe to the Rocky Mountains, and the duty citizens share to support the afflicted.
Medical Mission to the Front Lines
Among the most hands-on relief efforts from Cranbrook has been the work of local physician Dr. Tracey Parnell. Specializing in emergency medicine and crisis response, she volunteered with a mobile trauma hospital near the front lines on two trips into Ukraine during 2022. Confronted by dire shortages of vital equipment taken for granted in Western healthcare, she is now seeking to raise $150,000 to purchase tourniquets, wound dressings, blankets, and myriad other lifesaving medical gear (Crawley, 2022). By working with suppliers to ship bulk materials that meet NATO specifications, her initiative aims to sustain Ukrainian defenders facing grievous injuries. Just as soldiers from across the world have formed a de facto international brigade, so too have medical volunteers created an underground lifeline of care.
Uniqborn
The Uniqborn Relief Society https://www.uniqborn.org/ is a nonprofit organization that was formed in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. According to the group’s Facebook page, they were started by “a small group of people looking to assist the most vulnerable” affected by the conflict (Uniqborn Relief Society, 2022). The organization is run entirely by volunteers so that all monetary donations received can go directly to their projects assisting those in need.
Some key initiatives highlighted on their social media profiles include Project Balance, which aims to provide free therapy for children in the city of Kharkiv (Uniqborn Relief Society, 2022). They have also been raising funds for a program called Sanctuary for Seniors that would support elderly and disabled individuals who were abandoned in the Sumy Oblast region (Uniqborn Relief Society, 2022). Additionally, the group has undertaken efforts to supply children with basic necessities like school supplies, shoes, and toys that their families could no longer afford. Describing itself as serving “those most vulnerable in times of disaster,” Uniqborn has worked to find and assist subgroups disproportionately impacted by the war (Uniqborn Relief Society, 2022).
The Society frequently uses its Facebook page to update supporters on aid deliveries to various parts of Ukraine and document where donations have gone. For example, an early post highlighted a shipment of sports equipment for children in the town of Андріївка (Uniqborn Relief Society, 2022). The organization also held events and fundraisers within its home community in Canada according to Facebook posts, such as charity golf tournaments in Cranbrook (Uniqborn Relief Society, 2022). The first major recipient of Uniqborn’s fundraising was Oranta Orphanage, an organization caring for 19 displaced children that had gone years without outside support (Uniqborn Relief Society, 2022).
Overall the available information shows Uniqborn Relief Society to be executing a variety of humanitarian projects for vulnerable war victims across Ukraine. Their volunteers aim to make an impact through hands-on aid delivery, infrastructure development like the school bunker renovation, and offering services otherwise inaccessible due to the conflict. By sharing these activities through their online presence, Uniqborn also works to keep supporters informed on how donations directly assist those in great need.
Lasting Impacts
While news coverage of Russia’s invasion has faded with time, the reverberations continue for Cranbrook’s Ukrainian diaspora and their adopted hometown. The Shelter for Ukrainians continues to aid new arrivals, even as government refugee programs wind down. Fundraisers and community groups persist as well. While small in scale, seemingly distant from the frontline violence, the solidarity embodied by these efforts represents a microcosm of global response. From welcoming displaced families into Canadian society, to re-settlement challenges faced by refugees the world over, to one doctor’s harrowing medical trauma, the Ukraine war touches life in quiet corners across the planet. Ongoing support aligns with the community values so commonly praised in public speeches – compassion, diversity, justice. When future generations look back at the dark history now unfolding, let them say the people of Cranbrook lent a hand to those in need.
References
Brewster, M. (2024, February 24). Trudeau signs $3-billion security deal for Ukraine on 2nd anniversary of Russian invasion. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-kyiv-ukraine-russia-1.7124330
Coulter, B. (2022, March 2). Conflict in Ukraine spurs British Columbians to join military organizations. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/british-columbians-joining-ukraine-1.6369488
Crawley, T. (2022, March 15). Cranbrook man heading to Ukraine to support defence against Russian military invasion. Cranbrook Townsman. https://www.cranbrooktownsman.com/news/cranbrook-man-heading-to-ukraine-to-support-defence-against-russian-military-invasion-1822010
Crawley, T. (2022, August 29). Helping displaced Ukrainian families find safe haven in the East Kootenay. Cranbrook Townsman. https://www.summerlandreview.com/news/helping-displaced-ukrainian-families-find-safe-haven-in-the-east-kootenay-4218993
Crawley, T. (2022, February 24). Kootenay-Columbia MP Rob Morrison condemns Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nelson Star. https://www.nelsonstar.com/news/kootenay-columbia-mp-rob-morrison-condemns-russian-invasion-of-ukraine-4900624
Crawley, T. (2022, October 14). Cranbrook doctor raising money for medical equipment on Ukrainian front lines. Cranbrook Townsman. https://www.cranbrooktownsman.com/news/cranbrook-doctor-raising-money-for-medical-equipment-on-ukrainian-front-lines-5372116
Coulter, B. (2022, March 3). Standing with Ukraine. Cranbrook Townsman. https://www.cranbrooktownsman.com/news/standing-with-ukraine-5365890
Kang, A. (2023, March 1). Marking one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. E-Know.ca. https://www.e-know.ca/regions/east-kootenay/marking-one-year-anniversary-of-the-war-in-ukraine/
Uniqborn Relief Society. (2022). Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Uniqborn
Van Boeyen, M. (2023, February 24). Candlelight vigil in Cranbrook recognizing one year anniversary of Ukraine invasion. 102.9 Rewind Radio. https://1029rewindradio.ca/2023/02/24/candlelight-vigil-in-cranbrook-recognizing-one-year-anniversary-of-ukraine-invasion/
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