Donations needed to help with expenses
Menomonie residents Paul and Lynn Schwartz are sponsoring a family that fled from Ukraine after the Russian invasion. While the Schwartz's are generously providing room and board for this family of four, many other expenses will need to be covered. Therefore, donations are being accepted to help the family out. St. Joseph's Catholic Church is acting as the non-profit to receive donations. If you wish to help, you can find information about donating at the bottom of the post.
Lynn shared the following information about the family:
Meet Khurmat, Yuliia, Nikita, and Kiril. This is the family from Ukraine that we are sponsoring. They escaped Ukraine when Russia invaded in February of this year. Their village is still in occupied Ukraine. They have been living in Poland.
Khurmat is 38 and has worked in home construction. He is said to have "golden hands." Yuliia is 41 and has worked in construction estimating, banking, store management, and most recently, she owned a large men's clothing store. Unfortunately, all the inventory was taken by the Russian soldiers. Nikita is 18, has graduated high school and started college in Ukraine. He wants to be an engineer. Kiril, 13, will be enrolled at the Menomonie Middle School.
I'm writing to introduce them and ask for monetary donations at this time. While we will provide room and board, there will be many expenses initially. For example, a work permit is about $500 per person, and we will apply for three as Nikita wishes to work part-time and continue his schooling. When they escaped from Ukraine, they weren't able to collect much, so they have minimal resources. The parents are very eager to start work and begin paying their way, but it takes about three months for work permits to come through. Their first job is to improve their English. They will be enrolled at the CVTC in Menomonie in ELL classes and working with Chippewa Valley literacy volunteers.
I created a private Facebook group, "Menomonie for Ukraine" for people who would like to follow their journey and help out in other ways. You can message me on Facebook or email me at lynnwi@yahoo.com if you'd like to be invited. I'll be happy to answer any questions. Thank you.
Checks (payable to St. Joseph's) can be mailed to or dropped off at St. Joe's Parish (910 Wilson Avenue) with a note indicating it is for the Ukraine sponsorship. Payment can also be made online by credit card here. Make sure you use the donate button (NOT the pay now button). When entering payment information, you'll find a box at the top where you can write a note indicating it's for the Ukraine sponsorship.
