COVER STORY

When I read that Ukraine had been invaded by Russia on February 24, 2022, my predominate emotions were anger, fear, and frustration. Angry that a sovereign nation could be invaded in 2022. Fearful that the war would be devastating to the people of Ukraine; and frustrated because I didn’t know what to do to help.

When my phone rang a week later, I immediately cancelled the call. I was comforting our little guy who was recovering from Covid and the number was from a U.S. area code so I dismissed it as a spam call. Then it called me again. I cancelled it. And then I got a text message.

The text read:

“Roger, it’s Andrei, please contact me if you can.” Andrei is my only Ukrainian friend. In fact, we’re members of the same Masonic Lodge in Mimico. I had been thinking about him and his wife, Iryna, since the war started and was wondering how they were doing. I hadn’t spoken to either of them in at least two years. But they were on my mind.

My phone rang again. This time I answered it.

It was Andrei, but he sounded different. I don’t want to say desperate, but rather in despair. I could tell by the sound of his voice that the situation over there was bad. When he asked me if I could help reach out to the Masonic community and anyone else I knew to collect aid items to help with the war effort, I jumped at the opportunity.

We parted ways on the phone and I messaged Iryna to see how exactly I could help.

She furnished me with a list of criticallyneeded items that the Ukrainian Community in Toronto was working to collect to help their embattled homeland.

Reading the list inspired me to start making phone calls and sending emails and text messages to friends, clients and colleagues to spread the word and start collecting donations. Mike and I are friends and customers of one another. He’s a South Etobicoke resident and President of ITEX Barter Canada, of which I am a member. I had seen how Mike had been successful with previous fundraising and donation campaigns among the ITEX membership in Canada and the US. I thought that we could do something similar in an effort to send as many items off the list that Iryna gave me and get them over to Ukraine as quickly as possible.

Mike not only collected items from ITEX members (16 pallets worth at the time of publishing), but he donated of his own accord and even delivered items to help Iryna; a working mother of three who’s also studying for a Masters degree and coordinating donation efforts all the while.

Mike and I have been in constant contact ever since and he’s been instrumental in this effort to help the people of Ukraine. Thank you, Mike. You have a big heart, my friend.

My next series of emails and phone calls was to local politicians I know from my work as a magazine publisher and podcast producer.

James Maloney, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke-Lakeshore and Jennifer Hartley, his Chief of Staff, were more than accommodating in my request to share the list of critically-needed items to constituency members. As was Mark Grimes, Toronto City Councillor for Ward 3 Etobicoke-Lakeshore. Mark and his Chief of Staff, Kim Edgar, wasted no time in publishing the list on their weekly eNews publication that’s distributed to thousands of residents in South Etobicoke. Kam Saran and Cecilia Santos from Office146, a community co-working space in Alderwood, agreed to act as a drop-off location for donations. David Armstrong, a local businessman, Alderwood resident, and Secretary of Superior Masonic Lodge No. 501 in Mimico also deserves thanks for spreading the word to Masons across Ontario. So far, we’ve filled an office with donations from the wonderful people of

Tanner Campbell delivers 4,000 empty feed bags and 4,000 KN95 masks on behalf of Masterfeeds Canada to support the people of Ukraine.

Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

As I began to read the list in greater detail, I noticed that I could source some of the non-lethal aid items from a surplus store. I called Dave at TNT Surplus in New Toronto and was surprised by what I heard.

He told me that as much as he would prefer to be having a typically-low sales month in March, his store has been packed with people purchasing camo gear, helmets, tactical vests and gloves, body armour, backpacks, and blankets to ship over to family members. South Etobicoke has strong Ukrainian roots.

One of the items on the list that struck me was empty bags which could be used to fill with sand. After seeing video of an excavator on a beach in Odesa (Ukrainian spelling, and I suppose the only proper way to spell it) moving sand to local residents so they could fill sandbags and use them to protect themselves and their monuments against Russian attacks, I realized that we have a bunch of empty horse feed bags at home. Maybe they could work. Then I realized that if we had a few empty feed bags kicking around the farm, Real Farmers may have plenty.

And plenty they did.

After realizing that empty feed bags could be prevalent in Grey County, I drafted an email in my head while driving to Huron Tractor in Chatsworth. I pulled over in Williamsford, typed it, and sent it to a small handful of people in Grey County whom I thought might be able to spread the word about collecting empty feed bags. I sent a similar message to Rob Flack, CEO of Masterfeeds Canada in London thinking that since they make feed there that maybe he could spare a few empty bags.

Three minutes later, my phone went ‘ding’. It was a text message from a gentleman named Zak Rahim, Director of Communications for Rob Flack. He confirmed receipt of my message, told me that he had forwarded it to Rob and will stay Continued on page 26

Six days later, Rob Flack and Masterfeeds delivered 4,000 empty feed bags and 4,000 KN95 masks to my farm outside Flesherton. Six days.

I was pleased to find out that Rob is running to become the Member of Provincial Parliament for Elgin-Middlesex-London. I hope he wins. We need more leaders like Rob Flack.

The next morning , I received a reply from the email I had sent out the day before to some local Farmers in Grey County I know. The email was from Paul McQueen, Mayor of the Municpality of Grey Highlands and also a Farmer. His response really got the ball rolling and was followed shortly thereafter by Lorie Smith from Grey Agricultural Services in Markdale. Lorie was quick to offer her office space as a drop-off location and subsequently shared the call to action with the Farming community in Grey County.

The response was overwhelming.

Thanks to the work Lorie has done to spearhead the feed bag campaign, we’ve collected pallets worth of medical supplies, warm clothing, blankets, backpacks, canes, and walkers, as well as 6,000 empty feed bags, give or take. Her office was overflowing with them.

Grey County Farmers stand with Ukraine.

Between the efforts in Etobicoke-Lakeshore and Grey County, we had collected no less than 20 pallets worth of donations in less that two weeks. But now what do we do with them?

The Ukrainian-Canadians we were working with, along with other aid agencies and warehouses in Toronto were overwhelmed with donations by this point. They didn’t have the storage capacity to take more items. We hit a logistics road block.

Concerned that we were sitting on these items that had been so graciously donated by kindhearted folks, I was incredibly grateful to have received a call from a gentleman by way of Alex Ruff, Member of Parliament for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound. A couple of days later, I was contacted by the logistics lead for a new all-volunteer emergency relief effort helping to procure and ship non-lethal aid to Ukraine. They’re called Mriya Aid.

They’ve been in contact with me daily, sometimes more frequently than that, and have arranged for all the items that were collected and sitting in their respective storage facilities to be picked up, delivered to a warehouse in the GTA, and shipped over to Ukraine. Alex Ruff could not have jumped in to help at a better time. Thank you, Alex!

And thank you, Mriya Aid.

A lot of people have been asking me how they can donate money to help with the humanitarian aid effort. They usually say that they had donated in the past to large aid organizations but were otherwise marketed to in subsequent years for further funding. Mriya is, as previously mentioned, an allvolunteer organization. As such, they cover all administrative expenses themselves so every dollar they receive in donations goes directly towards procuring non-lethal aid and shipping it, along with donated items, directly to those who need it most in Ukraine. They just get it done. And that gives me hope that we in Canada can help those in Ukraine. Quickly. Now.

If you or someone you know is looking for a concrete way to help the people of Ukraine, please consider donating financially to Mriya Aid.

www.mriyaaid.org

About the Author: Roger Tumminieri is a former Toronto resident who now lives with his wife, Jessica, and their two young boys on a horse farm in Grey County, Ontario.

No one will ever accuse the cartoonist Jeff Wilson of being “from away”. He was born in the hospital in Markdale, grew up on a farm in the hamlet formerly known as Lauriston (population well under a hundred), attended Section School #6 for his first two grades until it was closed, transferred to Markdale Public School for the next couple of grades until that building was closed, then finished off what remained of elementary school at Beavercrest in Markdale. He learned at a very early age that it was possible to move a lot and still stay in the same place.

If there was a through line in his early years, it was his interest in comics and cartoons. He had a steady diet of the daily strips of Beetle Bailey, Blondie, Peanuts, Steve Canyon, and Terry and the Pirates every week. As he grew older, they were joined by B.C., Broomhilda, and Herman. All along, he was watching Saturday morning cartoons and the prodigious output of HannaBarbera, the first animation studio specifically for television.

While attending Grey Highland Secondary School in Flesherton, Jeff began to develop an interest in radio. He met one of his idols, morning man Ken Whitehouse at KFOS in Owen Sound, who cautioned him about the lack of outward mobility and poor pay found in that industry and that, coupled with his low-key personality, compelled him to look elsewhere. During a guidance appointment with principal Murray Juffs, in which he was shown books on subjects ranging from electrical engineering to auto repair, a chance comment made by Juffs about the animation program at Sheridan College pricked up Wilson’s ears.

Jeff brought what he felt was his meagre portfolio to the interview with Walter Hanson, the director of the “Cartooning and Graphic Story Arts Media Studies” program. Two years later, he left with the diploma. Shortly after, he got a storyboarding gig for the film “Prom Night”. He moved to Strathroy to work as a screen printer while moonlighting doing cartoons for a fitness magazine. Jeff moved to Calgary in 1981 and found work almost immediately. In addition, he offered his work free to the University of Calgary newspaper to get his work out there. His cartoons, based on local stories from the previous week’s issue, became very popular.

In 1982, Jeff and his wife returned to Markdale. He began to contribute to a new local tabloid, “Latitude 40”. Impressed, the editor asked if he knew any other cartoonists who could provide work for the new publication for a full page devoted to comics. Jeff was happy to oblige, and for the next issue, he was able to supply the magazine with the work of six different artists, each with a distinct comic style. The editor was impressed and asked Jeff to press his contacts for more work for the next edition, which he agreed to do. It was a daunting challenge, especially since none of them existed, but his concerns were short-lived. The magazine shut down the following month, and with it, his bizarre role in a twisted version of the Martin Ritt film “The Front”.

Over the years, he has been given helpful advice by such greats as Charles M. Schulz (brutally honest) and Lynn Johnston (editorial). And he still can be found in the place where he began. For many years his work has been published in the Dundalk Herald, where they once told him they don’t do comics, and the magazine you are holding, or virtually holding. Jeff continues to teach cartooning for the “Blue Mountain Creators’ Space”. The most recent of his four books “Pandemania Pandemonia”, inspired by his wife Barb, is available at Speaking Volumes Books in Flesherton for $20 plus HST.

KEVIN ARTHUR LAND

KEVIN ARTHUR LAND

SPEAKING VOLUMES BOOKS & AUDIO 12 Toronto Road, Flesherton kevinarthurland@gmail.com kevinarthurland.ca

I HELP BUSINESSES ENTREPRENEURS & C a bea iful b nds Services ••••••••••••••••••••••••• & Signage at get g Noticed!

• GRAPHIC DESIGN • GRAPHIC DESIGN • LOGO DESIGN • LOGO DESIGN • BRAND STRATEGY • BRAND STRATEGY • WEB DESIGN • WEB DESIGN • CUSTOM SIGNAGE • CUSTOM SIGNAGE • PRINT MATERIAL • PRINT MATERIAL • VEHICLE GRAPHICS • VEHICLE GRAPHICS • STOREFRONT SIGNAGE • STOREFRONT SIGNAGE • RUBBER STAMPS • RUBBER STAMPS • BANNERS • BANNERS • JOB SITE SIGNS • JOB SITE SIGNS • BUSINESS CARDS • BUSINESS CARDS • CUSTOM PROJECTS • CUSTOM PROJECTS AND SO MUCH MORE AND SO MUCH MORE

HI ARY B ADNER graphics Let's Co ect ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 519.374.9215 www.hiliarybgraphics.com @hi aryb adnerg phics

2021 custom-built home, 1156 sq ft main floor with luxury vinyl flooring, huge wrap-around deck, ground level with heated polished concrete floors, and attached double garage

466363 12TH B Concession, Grey Highlands

Smart design, quality finishes, bright living space, soaring 16' ceilings, west facing views that deliver magnificent sunsets and custom kitchen, combine creating an impressive space

5 mins from Beaver Valley Ski

Club, Beautiful design, quality finishes create a modern chalet that will have you dreaming about your next vacation.

39 MAIN STREET EAST

MARKDALE 519-986-2552