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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛЮТИЙ 2017 WWW.UNWLA.ORG 27 CASTING THE NET FAR AND WIDE by Nora Kulchycka Mason Like many UNWLA branches in the United States, Branch 107 of San Jose, Northern California, is a small group, but for 45 years we have had a dual purpose for being: on a worldwide level we support the UNWLA through scholarships in Ukraine and in Brazil; locally we are strong proponents and supporters of Ukrain- ian culture, language, traditions and camaraderie. Not a year goes by without our branch hosting at least one event that the Ukrainian community is urged to and invited to attend for a good cause. When the most recent war in Eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014, our purpose expanded. We knew that people were dying every day or being injured or losing all they had and being forced to seek refuge in Western Ukraine. And these people needed our help. When soldiers die, they usually leave a family behind, very often without any financial support. When homes are destroyed, there is nothing to pack, and so, like many of us in the past, people leave with whatever they are wearing, literally the “clothes on their backs.” During this most recent episode in our turbulent history, our branch members started to respond to suggestions from our NY headquarters by donating money collected at branch-sponsored events for our small community. Then we received the names of Soyuz Ukrainok branches in Ukraine whose members actively collected clothing to distribute, and we started to collect clothing with the intent of shipping as many boxes as we could finance to them. One Branch 107 member who teaches music to children sent out one email to parents asking for clothes, and an avalanche of clothing came in response to this single email. Our American neighbors kept bringing and bringing, and “children’s clothing” expanded to clothing for people of all ages and both gen- ders. A local school, breaking for summer vacation, gave us four huge bags of children’s sweaters, jackets, and everything left behind by students at year’s end. This was a pure bonanza. As a result, in 2015 we shipped 55 boxes of clothing (approximately 4,000 pounds) at a cost of almost $4,000. We were extremely proud of ourselves—that is until we ran out of money. For a while self- funding worked but then that dried up. The clothing collection did not stop, only the money stopped. Enter social media. Our original members are tech savvy but only to a point: emails yes, text, yes, but Facebook, not so much. But we do have new members who are young and live and breathe social media. And it was these young new members who decided to try something new; admittedly we not so tech-savvy older members were kicking and screaming as this began to happen, but we did try. And in the process, we discovered that Social Media really works; we just did not know the power behind it and how effective it could be. Schooled and encouraged by our younger tech-savvy members, we created an event page on Face- book through our branch’s own Facebook page and started posting information about our annual picnic. This led to great exposure; as a result, many people came. Another bonus was that we made new friends and signed up new members. All seemed good. But we discovered that income from a single picnic does not cover the cost of shipping 55 boxes, and so we came up with a new idea: having a boutique with unique items for sale, with a focus on authentic Ukrainian-themed crafts. Each of our members tried to supply what they could donate from their personal “Ukrainian archives.” We weren’t specific when we asked for “Ukrainian-themed crafts,” and although we received a lot of things, not all could be sold or converted into cash money for shipping. But another amazing thing happened when we turned to our American neighbors and business contacts and other non-Ukrainians and they all responded with generosity and creativity and with interest about what the UNWLA is and does and what our mission was and what wonderful things we do. Such an outpouring of interest and help was something we did not expect. One example of this involved Brittany Sample, a piano student, who is also an avid photographer. Brittany took some of her best shots and at her own expense developed, enlarged, and had the photos matted. She donated them to us for our Silent Auc- tion. Last year she helped serve food at our picnic and said that our vyshyvankas are beautiful; she knows something about us, and this year she helped us to reach our goal. Anna Maiko, a Ukrainian artist, saw information about our event on Facebook and also volun- teered to participate in our Silent Auction. She donated 50% of all her proceeds to UNWLA. This was a first for us; we were delighted with her gesture and with her beautiful oil paintings. And we now know something about each other.
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