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Ukrainian Week is here! Students at Immaculate Heart of Mary School invite you to celebrate a traditional Ukrainian Yarmarok, sponsored by Access Credit Union
A special kind of fair
Students invite you to celebrate a traditional Ukrainian yarmarok!
Winnipeg MB – Food, handmade goods and crafts are items artisans would proudly sell at a lively yarmarok, or fair, in Ukraine. A yarmarok features not only the selling and buying of precious goods, but also entertainment, with song, music and dance. The energy and vibrancy of a yarmarok is the theme of this year’s annual Ukrainian Week at Immaculate Heart of Mary School (IHMS), March 18-22, 2024.
Every March, students, teachers, volunteers and guest artists explore and celebrate an aspect of Ukrainian culture. Students spend the month immersed in activities related to the theme, which culminates in a Ukrainian-language concert performed by the entire student body.
“For decades, Ukrainian Week has been a highlight of the year for our school community,” says Rod Picklyk, Principal, IHMS. “Now it plays an even more important role in building pride and understanding, as currently one-third of our students have come to Canada since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. Ukrainian Week gives Canadian students an opportunity to learn more about our rich heritage, and the Ukrainian-born students to maintain their cultural values and language.”
In 2023, the students made decorations for a traditional Ukrainian wedding bread, and presented a concert of the rituals and celebrations that make up a Ukrainian wedding. The 2024 edition of Ukrainian Week involves making traditional crafts that would be sold at a yarmarok. Students in kindergarten to grade three made and painted dough art. Students in grades four to eight will work with an artist who will teach them to make beautiful decorations such as sunflowers and Ukrainian flags with broken glass.
Access Credit Union has joined in the celebrations by sponsoring Ukrainian Week 2024.
“Access Credit Union is dedicated to demonstrating leadership and commitment within the communities we serve through ongoing charitable support, involvement within our community, and by providing and facilitating educational programming,” says Sukki Brar, Managing Partner, Access Credit Union. “We are delighted to support Ukrainian Week at Immaculate Heart of Mary School, and are excited to experience their yarmarok.”
Other 2024 Ukrainian Week activities include:
- 18 March: Blue & Yellow Day (students come to school dressed in the colours of the Ukrainian flag)
- 21 March: Vyshyvanka Day (students come to school dressed in Ukrainian embroidered shirts and blouses)
- 21 March, 1 p.m.: Ukrainian Week concert matinee
- 21 March, 7 p.m.: Ukrainian Week concert evening performance
- 22 March, 9:30 a.m.: Divine Liturgy and blessing of pussy willows, Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Cathedral
- 22 March: Noon: Varenyky Day! (students and staff enjoy a delicious perogy lunch)
- 18-22 March: Ukrainian Trivia Contest (students enter their answers to trivia questions about a yarmarok)
“We are grateful to Access Credit Union for helping us present a vibrant and meaningful program,” says Mr. Picklyk. “As an independent school which receives 50% per-student funding as public school students, IHMS relies upon community support, philanthropic contributions and fundraising activities such as this gift from Access to present programs like Ukrainian Week.”
Black Tie Bingo at Holy Family Home
Thank you for showing your love!
For more than 125 years, the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate (SSMI) have lived their mission: To Serve is to Love. As women who have responded to Christ’s call to dedicate their entire beings and lives to God through a life of prayer and active service, they share their experience of God’s compassion, forgiveness and unconditional love.
Through your support of the Lubov SSMI Foundation – lubov means love – your love is manifest across all of the Sisters’ ministries.
You only need to step into Holy Family Home to see love in action. Eyes that smile over masks. Activities that bring joy. Gentle voices that pray with loved ones who live there. Your love ensures Holy Family IS Home for 317 of our beloved parents, grandparents and friends.
At Immaculate Heart of Mary School, a loving, warm and enriching environment helps students become confident, compassionate leaders every day. Your love gives safety and comfort to all children, including more than 100 who have been welcomed into the school community since fleeing the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Your love saves lives at the Home of Hope in Lviv. The Sisters created a home for vulnerable, impoverished girls who are easy targets for traffickers and lives on the street with a simple philosophy: Love them. Slowly but surely, as the girls live in community, go to school and begin working, they learn to trust. They learn that they are kind, smart, talented and worthy of love.
Thank you for the love you show through your generous support of Lubov and the ministries of the Sisters. Your love helps kids grow and thrive. Your love gives elderly loved ones a comfortable home. Your love keeps vulnerable young women safe. Your love makes all the difference.
Wishing you God’s blessings with gratitude and love,
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Katherine (Washchyshyn) Fox
CEO, Lubov SSMI Foundation Inc.
Your faith and compassion makes a difference every day in the lives of people served by the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate.
Your gift helps:
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Educate the young (Immaculate Heart of Mary School)
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Provide Spiritual comfort to those in need
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Nurture the lonely
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Care for the Sick (Holy Family Home)
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Bring hope to young women in Ukraine and supporting refugees
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Provide an atmosphere of compassion and education for orphans in Ukraine and supporting refugees
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