CHICAGO — Top Ukrainian activists gathered in Chicago on Saturday night to raise funds for the country’s war effort.
Having flown from Ukraine just three days ago, Lyuba Shipovich shared firsthand the ongoing atrocities plaguing her country.
“There is no safe place currently in Ukraine,” Shipovich said.
Lyuba is a trained software engineer who heads a non-profit called “Dignitas” which trains and provides Ukranian soldiers with technology to help defend the country.
“In the current war, we don’t have enough military-grade technology, so we use civilian technology a lot,” Shipovich said. “We use civilian drones, we use civilian tablets civilian smartphones.”
Lyuba is one of many who attended a Saturday night fundraiser at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art to help raise money for a veteran’s center at Ukraine’s oldest university in Kyiv. The center will help soldiers adjust back to civilian life after the war.
“They will need help to get aid for their families because they need to rejoin society,” Marta Farion, Vice President of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, said. “They need to become part of the workforce necessary to rebuild Ukraine
While raising money for soldiers is top of mind during Saturday’s program, guests are also hoping Congress will reconsider passing a $110 billion package to help Ukraine, Israel and other national security priorities.
On Wednesday, Senate Republicans blocked the bill from moving forward. Republicans are insisting on pairing the funding with changes to America’s immigration and border policies.
“We realize Ukraine is being held hostage because of the immigration law and we feel that negotiations need to take place very quickly,” Farion said.
A new aid proposal laid out by the GOP’s lead negotiator could force the White House to consider ideas that many Democrats will oppose. As it relates to raising money for a Ukrainian veteran’s center, organizers say they hope to raise $100 thousand, between Saturday’s event and two others recently held in California.
