- April 25, 2024
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As the war continues in Ukraine, one local organization is hosting a night of music to raise awareness and support of the country's struggles.
At 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 2, the Ukranian Project, Inc. is presenting a charity event featuring Oksana Bilozir, singer and former Ukraine politician, and Nataliya Bratash at the Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center. Tickets cost $35, and all funds raised from both donations and ticket purchases will go to provide aid to the people of Ukraine, a cause that hits home for Ruksolana Cisyk, of the Ukranian Project, as she still has family in the country and remembers what it was like to live in the Soviet Union.
"It was a miserable life," said Cisyk, of Palm Coast. "So altogether, we cannot forget what's happening right now over there."
The Ukrainian Project originally created a festival in Orlando to celebrate Ukrainian culture. But when the war began, the nonprofit's scope changed. Its members began working with different organizations in Ukraine to ensure that any donations of supplies or money went straight into the people who needed them most. The festival held in Apopka in late February raised over $5,000.
The nonprofit also raised about $2,500 during a recent event in Palm Coast. Thanks to Palm Coast resident Jeffery Haase, of Environmental Products Group, eight Ukrainian refugee students in Central Florida also received a laptop.
The decision to bring Bilozir, whom Cisyk described as a Madonna-like pop figure in Ukraine during the 70s and 80s, was spontaneous. Cisyk's father used to work at TV station in Ukraine and knew Bilozir from when she first started in the music industry. Her parents, having fled Ukraine earlier this year by foot, are living with her now, along with her brother.
Cisyk noticed a couple of weeks ago that Bilozir was performing in various parts of Florida to raise funds for Ukraine, and suggested to her 82-year-old father that perhaps, they could bring her here to perform. She was familiar with the PAC as her kids had been part of Children's Musical Theater, and decided to see if putting a show was a possibility.
It was.
Bilozir and Bratash, who used to study music with Bilozir, will be singing Ukrainian songs that express the love of their homeland, and desire to live in freedom and peace.
Cisyk knows that the war may not be on the forefront of many Americans' minds anymore. It's been many months since the fighting started.
"And everybody has their own stuff right now, their own problems," Cisyk said. "But those people in Ukraine also have their stuff, until one day when nothing matters anymore."
Want to help but can't attend the show? The Ukrainian Project is accepting donations through its website, UkrainianFestivalOrlando.org. Checks, cash and items may be sent to Ukrainian Projet, Inc. at 1315 E. International Speedway Blvd, DeLand FL 32724. A donation box is also located inside International Foods Store at 300 S. Central Ave. in Flagler Beach.
