Photos by Maksym Diachenko of Brovary
In the days since we posted about the situation in Brovary, a lot of people have asked how they can help. Mayor Woodards has been in contact with the Mayor of Brovary, Igor Sapozhko, and received a list of needed items. Unfortunately because of the current situation, we’re unable to ship anything to the city.
As an alternative, Tacoma’s Sister City Committee has set up a Paypal link to collect funds for Brovary. When you donate, be sure to note “For Ukraine” on the donation note. You can see their original blog post here.
The money collected from the Paypal link will be transferred directly to the city so they can buy the things they need. Keep an eye on the Sister City website and follow them on Facebook for the most current info.
Along with this, on March 1st, the City of Tacoma announced a proclamation of solidarity with our Sister City of Brovary. Below is an excerpt from Resolution 40920:
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TACOMA
1. That the City of Tacoma declares its heartfelt support for its
Sister City in Brovary and the people of Ukraine in this time of hardship, tragedy,
and grief, and that we stand with them and wish for the safety for all of Ukraine’s
communities.
2. That the City of Tacoma condemns Russia’s unconscionable
attacks and invasion of a sovereign nation, putting the people of both countries in
the way of unnecessary harm.
3. That the City of Tacoma recognizes all that truly separates us
as people is the distance of our countries, and joins our Ukrainian brothers and
sisters, both here and abroad, in calling for peace and an end to the conflict in
their country.
Read the full resolution here.
During the meeting, two moving speeches were made in support of the resolution. First, city employee and Chair of the Tacoma-Brovary Sister City Committee, Stan Chain. In 2019, Stan drove an ambulance over 1,000 miles from a port in Germany to his hometown of Brovary. The ambulance was donated by the Tacoma Fire Department. This was followed by a visit from Mayor Woodards, Fire Chief Tory Green, and Tacoma Firefighters who trained the locals on using the new ambulance.
The next speech came from Stan Sayenko. Stan is the son of the late pastor Peter Sayenko, founder of the Slavic Christian Center, a native of Brovary, and an instrumental part of the formation of our sister city relationship.
You can watch a recording of the meeting here. The speeches start at the 36 minute mark.
