LAC LA BICHE - Five giant oven trays of lazy cabbage rolls,1,250 perogies, 50 rings of kubasa... and a generous portion of local community support... were all part of the recipe to make 260 Ukrainian food plates last week that raised $2,850 for the people of Ukraine.
On March 11, several local volunteers served up 260 orders of a Ukrainian food, charging $10 per order as a fundraiser to help people in war-torn Ukraine. Additional donations were also received that went to the cause. The local funds will be matched by the Canadian Red Cross.
It was a phenomenal show of local support, said organizer Kristen Shewchuk who planned the event with her cousin Jodi Brownlie along with friends and helpers.
"We were lucky to have people give extra money that helped cover the cost of groceries. Independent Grocers donated as well, and we got food containers from the Heritage Society, Tara's Pizza, V&H and Costa Cafe," Shewchuk told Lakeland This Week.
Sold out
At 260 plates, it was almost three times what the organizers had originally had in mind when they started out from a simple idea.
"I've always loved a perogy plate, and thought that others might enjoy it too. The original goal was to sell 100 — but we hit that number (of orders) in about 48 hours," said Shewchuk explaining that word of mouth and some social media promotion started about a week before the March 11 delivery date. "So then we said 250 — and we sold out in less than a week."
Local kitchen boss and Ukrainian food specialist Lorraine Martyn was busy with perogy production.
"Lorraine is amazing and her perogies are equally amazing," said Shewchuk, adding that the helpers started putting the orders together for pickup on Friday morning at 9 am at the Lac La Biche Kinsmen Centre. They started handing them out two and a half hours later and were finished the task at almost three that afternoon.
It was the end of a very busy week of preparation and planning that couldn't have been done without all the help and a community that wanted to help others who are half a world away, said Shewchuk who, like many people in the region, has relatives in Ukraine.
"We just really wanted to help and we knew a lot of people in town and around who were feeling the same way," she said, explaining that when she heard the Red Cross was matching funds raised until March 16, she knew they would have to act quickly — but also knew the community would come through. "I know lots of friends and family that also have relatives in Ukraine. The community has some very strong ties."
When asked if she and her helpers would re-plate the popular fundraiser again soon, Shewchuk said once the group has recovered from the most recent food frenzy, there might be more events they could serve up.
"Currently I’m all perogied out," she said with a laugh. "But you never know."
The War in Ukraine began a month ago when Russian military forces invaded the country on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Canadian Red Cross committed to match up to $30 million in fundraising support for Ukraine. According to the Red Cross, to date, Canada’s total funding allocated to Ukraine for humanitarian assistance is at $145 million.
