STAND UP! For Ukraine
with ANA BON-BON TRIO
Sunday, Nov 22, 1-3 pm
ZAWA RESTAURANT
1920 Commercial Drive, Van
Tickets @ EventBrite
Arrive early!

“We fight injustice to preserve our own humanity.”
Nelson Mandela

Dear Friends & Family,

Greetings and Best Wishes from the Women Refugees Advocacy Project.

We are reaching out to you again to request your support. With your help we continue to enable the women-led team of the Ukrainian Democracy Development Centre NGO (DDC) to take action on behalf of women and children as they struggle to survive inside Ukraine.

Looking back

Feeling powerless and horrified in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, our small women’s group learned of the work of Maria Dmytriyeva, a director of the DDC, through Linda MacDonald and Jeanne Sarson of Persons Against Non-State Torture (PANST) in Nova Scotia. Linda and Jeanne had previously met Maria in Europe at NGO conferences held by the United Nations.

After the 2022 invasion

WRAP has since held two fundraisers a year in Vancouver. Surprisingly, bit by bit, together we have raised over $100,000 thus far, although it never feels like enough. The money provided is no-strings-attached, with funds to be used at the discretion of the Ukrainian women, enabling them to better meet the unpredictable, often desperate, needs of civilians in war.

Russia’s latest jet-powered drones are causing increasing havoc for the Ukrainians. It appears that Iran initially provided the expertise to make these rocket drones. Russia is now ahead of Ukraine in the war because Ukrainian drones are not fast enough to supersede and stop them.

Like women and girls in war around the world, Ukrainian women are victims of human trafficking, prostitution and pornography. They are used for surrogacy and egg ‘donation’. Those who are captured by Russian soldiers are subjected to life-threatening rape and torture.

What does Maria and her team do with our help?  

As before, the DDC purchase power banks to keep phones working and lights on in bomb shelters, provide books for children whose schools have been bombed, spread the word about the on-going flower bombs being sent down river to harm children, help restore gardens that have been bombed, and more. Previously, they rented a bus to rescue two hundred elderly women from a Russia-seized territory.

Now they are rescuing women from the front line of the war where they are trapped in the border oblasts/ provinces, starving because of Russia’s targeted destruction of Ukrainian land. Contributions from supporters like you help them maintain and repair their vehicle, and provide gas and oil to make these rescues possible.

Contributions, large and small, make a significant difference to the Ukrainian women's ability to respond to emergencies, as well as help them to provide everyday essentials. One hundred percent of all funds contributed are sent directly to the Democracy Development Centre as they carry on. (WRAP members cover costs of fundraising.)

Together we offer hope and friendship to these courageous women facing impossible situations during this dark time, sure in the knowledge that Canadians care and send them strength.

Our warmest thanks to you, our friends and family, for giving your time and consideration.

With love and respect,
Chris McDowell, Liz Walker, Barbara, Leslie, Mo Simpson, Peggy, Leanne Averbach and Veronika
Women Refugees Advocacy Project
https://womenrefugeesadvocacyproject.ca/

P.S.
“Since 2022, Russia has weaponized winter by attacking Ukraine’s energy grid — a tactic that constitutes a war crime, according to a U.N. report published this week. As a consequence, Ukrainians have been forced to endure freezing apartments, plan their days around a few hours of electricity, and live with the uncertainty of whether they'll have running water tomorrow.”

“Winter is coming”, Kyiv Independent Newsletter, Oct 29, 2026

Please note:
WRAP is not a registered charity; we are unable to issue charitable tax receipts.

Photo by Associated Press:
People clear the rubble in a front of a residential building that was heavily damaged after a Russian air strike in Kramatorsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region on September 25.