From manufacturing medical kits to offering to house refugees, Manitobans step up to support Ukraine

Help for Ukraine in the form of supplies and humanitarian aid continues to pour in from Manitobans across the province.

People are offering up places to live for refugees and communities are rallying to get medical necessities and other provisions to the war-torn country.

And one company is now working on manufacturing special kits for frontline defenders.

At Deasil Custom Sewing Morden, work is underway to design and then manufacture thousands of little black medical kits for members of Ukraine’s territorial defence units.

“It’s devastating to see what’s happening,” said Cheryl Digby, co-owner of Deasil Custom Sewing. “Our staff come in, some of them are from Ukraine, some have mothers and siblings in Ukraine.”

Digby said members of Morden’s Ukrainian community identified the need for the kits.

She said once they have the design finalized, they plan to shift production efforts to make as many as needed.

“It’s urgent, obviously, so as soon as we could get enough materials in house and the right materials then we would shift over to the manufacturing of them,” Digby said.

Community members have also been rallying to raise money and collect supplies.

Volunteers have sewed Ukrainian flags to sell as a fundraiser, while donations of medical supplies and other necessities flowed in from Morden and the surrounding area.

A shipment of medical supplies collected Saturday from the community has already arrived in Ukraine.

“It was directed to Odesa,” said Yevgeniya Tatarenko, who helped organize the supply drive in Morden. “Paramedics in Odesa – they will get that help (Tuesday) and those items, those are the items like the first-aid items that will save lives.”

Tatarenko, who is originally from Ukraine wanted to find some way to help her home country. She said her mom has hunkered down in eastern Ukraine because it’s too risky for her to try and leave.

Civilians have come under attack and some have been killed while trying to flee the fighting.

“A lot of bombing is happening around her town so that’s why it’s just really, really dangerous just to try to cross the whole country,” Tatarenko said.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, more than 1.7 million people from Ukraine have fled to other countries since Russia invaded.

In Manitoba – home to more than 180,000 Ukrainians – the provincial government said there are currently more than 50 Ukrainian applicants to the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program and an additional 75 Ukrainians who’ve expressed interest in immigrating to the province.

But the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) of Manitoba said those who were going through the immigration process are likely now facing a much different set of circumstances than when they first applied.

“Many of them in normal times probably would’ve sold their residence in Ukraine to finance their resettlement or their immigration to Canada,” said Ostap Skrypnyk, a member of the UCC in Manitoba. “Now of course all those properties are probably worth zero or if they exist at all.”

Skrypnyk said due to an overwhelming response, the UCC has temporarily paused registrations for Manitobans who’ve offered to shelter Ukrainian refugees who may want to come to Canada.

So far more than 700 families have offered to help.

“We’re now trying to establish procedures for vetting those people and trying to understand how we can match families with them,” he said.

The federal government announced two new immigration streams last week: one for people who plan to stay temporarily and another for those who want to remain in Canada permanently.

The Manitoba government said it’s working with Ottawa to ensure appropriate supports are available if refugees start arriving in the province.

Since Mar. 1 Manitoba has nominated 16 individuals from Ukraine under its provincial nominee program.

The provincial government said it’s working to ensure their files receive expedited federal processing.

A provincial spokesperson said the Provincial Nominee Program is just one way for people to immigrate to Canada but it is the only program the province has direct control and authority over.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has jurisdiction over refugees, the province noted.