Chelsea Zhao
Staff Writer
Ukrainian students organized a Peace for Ukraine fundraiser in the Social Hall on March 30.
The event was first organized through a group chat of Ukrainians, around 14 people, who attended Dominican University, according to Tatiana Zharka, a senior who organized the event.
Nataliia Chukhrii, another senior organizer, said the group hopes to use the money raised for the Come Back Alive fund, Ukrainian fund that is for the “army and those who were injured.”
The students served items such as pierogi, varenyki (doughnuts), and even cookies made by two nutrition science graduates. The students also played videos of Ukraine and Ukrainian people on the overhead projector.
Zharka said many Ukrainian students have families still in Ukraine and fear for their safety during the war. She sees this event as a way to educate the DU community and to show support.
“I think it’s very important for us to educate our peers here in Dominican about the situation that’s going on in Ukraine. It will have lingering effects on other countries as well, this is kind of the minimum we could do to show our support,” Zharka said.
Gabriela Corral, a sophomore in behavioral neuroscience, sees the event as a way for students to actively engage with the DU community.
“I believe college students or students in general have a lot of influence, and this fundraiser is to show how we can make a change, even if it’s like a little bit, it means a lot to the people involved directly,” Corral said.
Yvonne Villegas, a sophomore in accounting, said she wishes to show her solidarity. In her business class, the class also discussed the impact on economics.
“We talked about it a little bit in macroeconomics, because it affects inflation and stuff like that because of gas prices, but other than that it hasn’t been touched upon,” Villegas said.
“Here we feel guilty, you know, we are safe and we’re not so directly impacted by the war, but this is the least we can do just because it feels so hopeless when we’re not doing anything,” Zharka said.
