Back to School 2024: You can help students like Andrii thrive

If you ask any Ukrainian about February 24, 2022, they will tell you exactly where they were the moment the bombs started dropping and the sirens began wailing.

We were at home – my son Andrii, my husband Sasha and I – in our cozy apartment in Lubny, a central Ukrainian city about the size of Brandon. We had gone to sleep nervous because the Russian troops were massing on the borders but we did not believe Putin would invade.

We were wrong.

As missiles and rockets screamed overhead and explosions shook our building, we huddled in the bathroom, the safest place away from windows, and tried to remain calm. We prayed.

A few weeks later, our first prayers were answered. Canada generously offered safety to Ukrainians, and Andrii and I flew to stay with Sasha’s sister, who had emigrated with her family in 2016.

After a long and arduous journey we were greeted on the Hug Rug. Imagine our surprise to see sunflowers and a welcome sign – written in Ukrainian! – right there at the airport.

God continued to answer our prayers. This time, through Immaculate Heart of Mary School.

This very special school opened its heart to us. You opened your heart to us.

The Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate, who founded and continue to support the school, and the IHMS board of directors asked the community for help so that children fleeing the war could attend IHMS at no cost. Hundreds of generous people like you answered.

You are the reason that in a new city in a new country, Andrii was surrounded by other children who shared our faith, spoke our language, and celebrated our traditions. And not just Ukrainian Canadian children! At IHMS, children from Filipino, Eritrean, Indigenous, Indian and Polish communities are all united in friendship and understanding.

Will you open your heart to help other children, like Andrii, who have been uprooted by this senseless war?

Without your help, Andrii and more than 100 other children like him would not have the opportunity for an education rooted in Ukrainian Catholic faith, culture, and values. Since IHMS only receives about half the funding for students from government, the rest is made up by tuition and fundraising.

Your generous gift means that school expenses are one less thing anxious parents displaced by war have to worry about.

Children who need you continue to arrive every month, hoping for a place at IHMS.

Your gift to the IHMS Bursary Program today will help families pay for tuition, school supplies, uniforms, extra English lessons, before- and after-school care, and psychosocial resources to give their children the best start in Canada.

• Your gift of $55 enables one student to participate in the after-school program for one month ($550 would cover the whole year);

• A gift of $135 would buy a child’s basic uniform (one each of pants / skort, shirt, cardigan, socks);

• Your gift of $250 provides 10 hours of extra English help;

• A gift of $2,850 (or $238 / month) funds a full year of tuition.

I can tell you from experience that IHMS was the very best place for Andrii. His English improved quickly, he joined the soccer team, and he made close friends.

And I could not have been more proud when he was invited to play the lead role in the Ukrainian Week concert. Can you imagine? My Andrii, on stage in Canada!

Andrii graduated from IHMS in June 2023. Thanks to the school’s emphasis on academics, leadership, strong sense of personal responsibility, and commitment to community, he was well prepared for high school. He is now in grade 10 and continues to thrive. He doesn’t even need special help with English any more.

I continue to pray and thank God that people like you care. When you give, you help more children like Andrii succeed. More parents will sleep a little easier, knowing you are helping them give their children the very best opportunity here in Winnipeg.

Thank you for opening your heart, and for your faith, love and compassion. With sincere thanks,

Nataliia Yarosh, grateful mother

P.S. There are many students besides newcomers from Ukraine who need the IHMS Bursary Program. Your donation will help all families who want to give their children the opportunity to experience IHMS’s welcoming and enriching environment.

Can we count on your special gift today?