Edmonton Grade 8 students donate clothing, time to charity for Ukrainian newcomers

Racks of clothes lined the walls at the Free Store for Ukrainian Newcomers in Edmonton. On the tables were piles of shirts, sweaters and pants.

And sorting through it all Thursday morning were students and staff from Meadowlark Christian School.

The Grade 8 students donated clothing to Ukrainian families who came to Edmonton after fleeing the war.

“It’s such a blessing to give it to people who don’t have what normal people would regularly have,” said student Yeab Twodros. “Because places that I’ve been to, they don’t have a lot. So it’s better to give and not let them suffer without having stuff.

“It makes me feel good that we are here to provide people with clothing that they really need and it just puts a smile on everyone’s faces.”

The students loaded bags of clothing for donation onto a school bus and brought them to the Free Store for Ukrainian Newcomers. The store, which opened last April, provides clothing and essentials free of charge to Ukrainian newcomers.

The students’ presence allowed the regular volunteers – many of them Ukrainian newcomers themselves – to take a break.

“I help my class with donations for Ukrainian people,” said Artem Raylyan, a Ukrainian newcomer and student at Meadowlark. “It’s such nice work for Ukrainian people. Canadians are so friendly, and I have so many friends in school and in Edmonton.

“I am happy, this is good. Ukrainian people are so thankful.”

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Teacher Nestor Gil was behind the initiative. Gil was an immigrant to Canada himself, and remembers it was difficult for his family at first.

“Just being alone, especially in the cold weather environment,” recounted Gil. “And now that I’m grown up, and older, I can sort of relate to how some of these refugees feel, so I want to give back and help them as much as I can.

“This clothing and whatever else was donated can help families settle in and feel at home.”

Grade 8 students from Edmonton’s Meadowlark Christian School sorting through donated clothes at the Free Store for Ukrainian Newcomers on Feb. 23, 2023. (Credit: CityNews/Laura Krause)

The coordinator at the Free Store for Ukrainian Newcomers says it means so much to see Edmontonians donate and care about newcomers.

“It means that we’re not alone,” said Janice Krissa-Moore. “It’s a very difficult time for our community, especially this week was very sad, so to see this it really brings a lot of joy to so many people.

“I think that people really love the fact that they can help out. People really feel compelled to help. Just knowing that people in Ukraine have lost so many of their relatives, so many of their friends, lost their energy sources. There’s so many losses, so they want to help in any way possible.”

Nearly one year into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Krissa-Moore feels the demand for the Free Store’s services may have increased slightly recently.

“I think a lot of Ukrainians did not think the war was going to linger this long,” she said. “The other thing is, we’re getting some more vulnerable families coming through. We are getting more widows that just want to get as far away as possible so they’re choosing Canada to come.

“We’ve had over 5,000 visitors to the store here where we’ve been able to provide wardrobes and all the houseware items.”