Category: News

Behind every headline is a Canadian who chooses to help

As we celebrate Canada Day, we are reminded that the values Canadians hold dear— equality, the rule of law, democracy, and unity— are the very same values Ukrainians are fighting to protect every day. To mark this day, we invited Andrew Maleckyj, Chair of CUF’s Board of Directors and the Ukraine Humanitarian Relief Committee (UHRC), to share a message that captures what this day means in the context of Canada’s ongoing support for Ukraine.

🎥 We invite you to watch.

In Ukraine, the maple leaf continues to represent something meaningful: compassion, generosity, and the belief that people should help one another in difficult moments. That belief is at the heart of everything CUF does, and it is made possible by donors like you.

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To donate using AMEX, PayPal, or Google Pay, please visit our CanadaHelps page. 

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About the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF)

Founded in 1995, CUF has a strong track record of providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the areas of healthcare, education and civil society. CUF collaborates with aid providers in Ukraine, Canada, and beyond to maximize impact and cost-effectiveness of your support.

Canada and Ukraine share more than a friendship—they share values. Former Canadian Senator Stan Kutcher knows this personally. The son of Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Canada during the Second World War, Kutcher spent his parliamentary career as a prominent advocate for Ukraine and for the Ukrainian diaspora that has enriched this country for generations.

🎥 We invite you to watch his message.

Stan Kutcher sees Canada as a tapestry, where every person is a thread of a slightly different colour, and it is through that diversity that something remarkable is woven together. The new Ukrainian diaspora has brought knowledge, entrepreneurship, culture, and an unshakeable commitment to the values that define this country. The Canada-Ukraine Foundation proudly aligns with that belief. Behind every headline coming out of Ukraine is a human story, and behind every human story is a community that chose to show up. Thank you for continuing to be a part of ours.

Your support helps the people behind the news. Donate today.

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To donate using AMEX, PayPal, or Google Pay, please visit our CanadaHelps page. 

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About the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF)

Founded in 1995, CUF has a strong track record of providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the areas of healthcare, education and civil society. CUF collaborates with aid providers in Ukraine, Canada, and beyond to maximize impact and cost-effectiveness of your support.

What Comes After Service?

In Ukraine, an estimated 1.5 million veterans are learning what comes after service. More than 130,000 are living with war-related disabilities. For many, the challenge is no longer how to endure the unimaginable. It is how to find a place for themselves once the fighting stops.

With support from the Canada-Ukraine Foundation, Come Back Alive’s Veteran Program is helping veterans across Ukraine reconnect through adaptive sports. Thousands have participated in activities designed to foster connection and belonging, while coaches, physical therapists, and veteran leaders are being trained to expand these opportunities nationwide.

But the impact extends far beyond sport. 🎥 Watch to learn more:

What begins as a training session becomes a conversation. A conversation becomes a friendship. A friendship becomes a community. 

Participants share ideas, support one another, and launch new initiatives in their hometowns. Together, they are creating spaces where veterans can connect, contribute, and lead. 

As one participant explains, veterans know how to come together in times of struggle. Programs like this help them come together to build. 

Your support helps make them possible.

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To donate using AMEX, PayPal, or Google Pay, please visit our CanadaHelps page. 

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About the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF)

Founded in 1995, CUF has a strong track record of providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the areas of healthcare, education and civil society. CUF collaborates with aid providers in Ukraine, Canada, and beyond to maximize impact and cost-effectiveness of your support.

Behind every headline and statistic coming out of Ukraine is a human story of courage, dignity, and resilience. Through the Canada-Ukraine Foundation’s Human Dimension campaign, your generosity directly strengthens civil society by funding community-led health and education initiatives on the ground. As we work to place people at the center of our response, we are incredibly grateful to announce a powerful new matching opportunity.

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Don’t forget! As announced on June 20, we are giving away exclusive CUF keychains to 100 donors. And as a token of our appreciation, one supporter who gives during the campaign, which closes on July 6, could receive an exclusive copy of Margaret Atwood’s book Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts, signed by the author during CUF’s 30th Anniversary event on May 29. 

Your support helps the real people behind the news endure extraordinary challenges. Please consider making your gift today to maximize your impact while the matching window remains open.

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To donate using AMEX, PayPal, or Google Pay, please visit our CanadaHelps page. 

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About the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF)

Founded in 1995, CUF has a strong track record of providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the areas of healthcare, education and civil society. CUF collaborates with aid providers in Ukraine, Canada, and beyond to maximize impact and cost-effectiveness of your support.

Be a Part of What Comes Next

More than 400 donors, partners, volunteers, community leaders, and friends gathered on May 29 at Toronto’s Arcadian Court to celebrate the Canada-Ukraine Foundation’s 30th Anniversary Gala. 

There was much to celebrate. Three decades of impact. Millions of lives reached. A community that has repeatedly come together in moments of both hope and crisis. But above all, the evening was a tribute to the people behind the work. The people who transformed an idea into one of Canada’s leading humanitarian organizations supporting Ukraine. 

🎥  We invite you to watch the gala highlights video and reflect on the community that made it possible as we mark this milestone.

There’s still time to support our Human Dimension fundraising campaign and receive a special gift crafted exclusively for the Canada-Ukraine Foundation’s 30th Anniversary Gala. The next 100 supporters who make a donation by July 6 will receive a handcrafted keychain made from recycled artillery shell casings recovered in Ukraine and designed by Andriy Yermolenko.

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To donate using AMEX, PayPal, or Google Pay, please visit our CanadaHelps page. 

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About the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF)

Founded in 1995, CUF has a strong track record of providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the areas of healthcare, education and civil society. CUF collaborates with aid providers in Ukraine, Canada, and beyond to maximize impact and cost-effectiveness of your support.

Russia’s occupation of Ukraine subjects millions to relentless oppression: property confiscation, torture, arbitrary detention, forced citizenship, conscription, and deportation shape daily life under occupation. These are not mere statistics; behind every statistic is a person, a neighbour, a daughter, a partner, who was taken from their home in the middle of the night and has not been heard from since.

Since the full-scale invasion began, thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been abducted and held in captivity without just cause. Their stories rarely make the news. That is exactly why they need to be told.

New Ukrainian Narratives (NUN) is an organization dedicated to giving voice to those who have been silenced. Founded in 2019 and further shaped by the reality of full-scale war, it documents the stories of Ukrainians who have been kidnapped, deported, or detained by Russia, whether convicted or not, and advocates for their release and for international recognition of their plight.

Your support helps the people behind the news. Behind every headline is a human story.

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To donate using AMEX, PayPal, or Google Pay, please visit our CanadaHelps page. 

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About the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF)

Founded in 1995, CUF has a strong track record of providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the areas of healthcare, education and civil society. CUF collaborates with aid providers in Ukraine, Canada, and beyond to maximize impact and cost-effectiveness of your support.

Featuring Edward Burtynsky and the Honourable Chrystia Freeland

On June 11, over 250 business and community leaders gathered in Toronto for the 4th Annual Bay Street Fundraising Brunch.  

This year’s event was hosted by Bert Clark, Roman Dubczak, Tim Griffin and Anastasia Elia alongside Thomas Robson, raising over $400,000 for the Canada-Ukraine Foundation to support Ukrainians facing unimaginable hardship.

“Over the past four years, the Bay Street fundraising events have raised approximately $1.5 million for CUF, a testament to the generosity and commitment of this community,” said Bert Clark, Event Co-Chair. 

“While Ukrainians are fighting for their lives and culture against the Russian oppressors, it is important to keep the issue top of mind with the general public and Bay Street in particular. The Brunch has been a positive way to do that and we are very grateful for the heartwarming support we have received,” noted Tim Griffin, Event Co-Chair.

“The proceeds from today’s brunch will support CUF’s medical projects, including programs to increase Ukraine’s clinical and ICU capacity, as well as infection control and other essential needs. Thank you for helping us make this happen,” added Valeriy Kostyuk, Executive Director of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation.

Guests were treated to a compelling conversation with Edward Burtynsky, internationally renowned contemporary photographer, moderated by the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Economic Advisor to the President of Ukraine and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Canada. The discussion explored the situation in Ukraine, while also offering guests insight into Burtynsky’s Ukrainian heritage and artistic career.

The Canada-Ukraine Foundation extends its sincere thanks to CIBC, the presenting sponsor, as well as to the Bay Street Fundraising Brunch hosts and all table sponsors and additional sponsors whose generous support made this event possible.

To relive the highlights of the event, we invite you to view the photo gallery here.

Together, we are proving that Canada’s support for Ukraine remains strong. Your contribution can help sustain critical humanitarian and medical initiatives delivered through the Canada-Ukraine Foundation and its partners on the ground in Ukraine. Help us continue this work.

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To donate using AMEX, PayPal, or Google Pay, please visit our CanadaHelps page

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About the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF)

Founded in 1995, CUF has a strong track record of providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the areas of healthcare, education and civil society. CUF collaborates with aid providers in Ukraine, Canada, and beyond to maximize impact and cost-effectiveness of your support.

The Mystetskyi Arsenal, one of Ukraine’s foremost art museums, burned for hours as crews fought to save it. At the Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Studio, flames consumed the largest and oldest costume collection in the country. Wardrobes from landmark Ukrainian films, gone in a night. Even Nova Poshta’s most modern postal terminal, the first automated facility of its kind in Ukraine, was hit. Churches, museums, cinema, the ordinary machinery of civilian life — all marked for destruction.

These are the people at the heart of CUF’s mission. The historian Timothy Snyder, writing on Ukraine this week, captured what is truly at stake: “By resisting Russia, Ukrainians are defending what is perhaps most basic about decent political life: the idea that people should be who they choose to be, not whom they are forced to become … it is worth taking risks for the dignity of being human.”

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To donate using AMEX, PayPal, or Google Pay, please visit our CanadaHelps page. 

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About the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF)

Founded in 1995, CUF has a strong track record of providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the areas of healthcare, education and civil society. CUF collaborates with aid providers in Ukraine, Canada, and beyond to maximize impact and cost-effectiveness of your support.

He shares how understanding both heritage and present-day reality can deepen our understanding—and open the door to greater connection, empathy, and support.

Culture is never static. It evolves, adapts, and carries forward the resilience of communities across generations and borders. At this critical moment for Ukraine, these reflections are more than personal—they are a call to awareness and solidarity. They remind us why cultural identity matters, and why sustained support is essential as Ukraine continues to endure and rebuild.

Your support helps ensure that the human dimension of Ukraine’s reality is seen, heard, and understood—and that our collective response remains rooted in dignity, culture, and hope.

Stand with us in bringing Ukraine’s human story to the world.  

Behind every headline is a human story.

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To donate using AMEX, PayPal, or Google Pay, please visit our CanadaHelps page. 

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About the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF)

Founded in 1995, CUF has a strong track record of providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the areas of healthcare, education and civil society. CUF collaborates with aid providers in Ukraine, Canada, and beyond to maximize impact and cost-effectiveness of your support.

For a fifteen-year-old girl named Oksana, violence was not something she read about in the news. It was something a Russian soldier said directly to her face. Learn more about Oksana’s story in the video below.

Save Ukraine works to find and rescue children caught in the grip of occupation and displacement, reuniting families and providing the care needed to begin rebuilding a life. With support from the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF), 46 children have been rescued and brought to safety. At two Hope and Healing Centres, hundreds of beneficiaries have received psychological support, therapy, hot meals, and educational programming, because no child should stop learning because of a war. 

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To donate using AMEX, PayPal, or Google Pay, please visit our CanadaHelps page. 

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About the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF)

Founded in 1995, CUF has a strong track record of providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the areas of healthcare, education and civil society. CUF collaborates with aid providers in Ukraine, Canada, and beyond to maximize impact and cost-effectiveness of your support.