Ukrainian family with local connections making their way to Leamington

By Mark Ribble

A young Ukrainian family with ties to the Leamington area is trying to make their way here with help from their cousin.

Mary Jane MacVicar is hoping to make arrangements for her cousin and his family to come to Leamington to live.

Andrej, his wife Mareena and their three children — Viktoria (15), Alissa (7) and Maksim (4) — are currently in Germany awaiting flights to Canada.

The couple were living with Mary Jane’s first cousin (Andrej’s mother) in a small town just west of Kyiv when the war broke out there.

“They immediately fled with just the clothes on their backs,” said Mary Jane.

Once they reached Romania, they decided to move along to Poland, where they were able to stay at a hotel until funds ran out.

“They are in Germany right now, hoping we can arrange flights to get them to Canada,” said Mary Jane. “There was endless paperwork.”

Mary Jane had actually written a letter to the federal government on the family’s behalf, which included an invitation to come to Canada. The government finally approved that move recently and Mary Jane is happy they have made it as far as they have.

She is currently trying to obtain housing for Andrej and his family, knowing they will need plenty of help once they arrive.

She started a GoFundMe page for the family as well, hoping to raise enough funds to get them flights from Germany to Toronto, then get them from Toronto to Leamington.

The GoFundMe page is titled “Our Ukrainian Family” and any donation large or small will be helpful, according to Mary Jane.

“We are presently looking for housing for them as well as other things they may need such as furnishings for the house, clothing for them and they will need to stock their cupboards and refrigerator,” she says. “So many friends and acquaintances have been kind enough to donate furniture and kitchen things, but they will mostly need clothing for all of them.”

Mary Jane sent an update to the Sun on Monday. The family is flying into Toronto on Sunday, June 19, so the local family is looking for help getting them to Leamington. If you can help out, reach out to Mary Jane at mmacvicar@cogeco.ca.