Just a small handful of the ribbons Mathewj Jaszczyszyn and his family have made in a bid to raise money for victims of the Ukraine-Russia conflict. (submitted photo/Mathewj Jaszczyszyn)

By Alex Rawnsley

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NANAIMO — A local initiative is looking to send love and donations to those in Ukraine, all wrapped up in a bow.

A ribbon-tying project started by a Nanaimo father and his two children has grown exponentially to now include a nation-wide organization and thousands of yellow and blue twists.

Mathew Jaszczyszyn’s father was born in Lviv, Ukraine before fleeing during the Second World War and emigrating to Canada. He said the project to create ribbons started from a makeshift one he made for himself before a work meeting.

“I wanted to start making these ribbons and we were going to do it as a family, as a craft in a way [my kids] could contribute because they’re good kids and wanted to be part of contributing to help as well in whatever way we could.”

The original intent was to distribute the ribbons for donations among Jaszczyszyn’s work and they had enough material for 500 ribbons until childhood friend Sarah Bramley got wind of the initiative and pushed it further.

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Bramley helped facilitate the purchase of more materials through her connection with Nanaimo’s infamous ‘Cookie Guy’, who has spent over $10,000 on Girl Guide cookies in recent years which are then donated to local non-profits.

With supply issues limiting the number of cookies he could buy, he directed a $1,000 donation to this project instead.

“It’s nice to see there’s people that are involved in charity work in a way that they can help grow stuff like this,” Jaszczyszyn told NanaimoNewsNOW. “Just somebody wanting to do something nice for a cause that’s important to me, growing that into something that can make more of a financial impact.”

Jaszczyszyn admitted creating ribbons is a small gesture, one they hope will raise a little cash for a charity doing work on the ground in Ukraine.

But he added the act is cathartic for him and others connected to the conflict.

“Being a part of a culture that’s seemingly being systematically destroyed is pretty tough to watch and making these ribbons is pretty small, it feels like we’re almost doing nothing, but one thing my mother in law used to say was change comes usually from a small group of people that put effort into it, to grow it into something meaningful.”

Jaszczyszyn has cousins and other extended family still in western Ukraine and has been able to maintain some level of communication with them through the conflict so far.

Among those helping make the ribbons are local Girl Guides from the Nanaimo Arbutus District in south Nanaimo, Cedar and Chase River, along with students at Fairview Elementary school.

Noreen Keen is the commissioner of the Arbutus District Girl Guides, a grade 4/5 teacher at Fairview Elementary and friend of Bramley’s. She committed to creating 1,000 of the ribbons with the various groups she works with.

She said it’s an opportunity to recognize the fortunes Canadians experience and answer questions on what kids are seeing on TV and online.

“When you see opportunities to do something, to listen or be kind, that we take advantage of it and we don’t let those opportunities pass by because not everybody has a kind, calm life right now and we just be grateful for what we have.”

Keen added she’s had some early discussions with other colleagues at Fairview Elementary, who have expressed similar interest to help out.

“If I can do one tiny thing to help support a family that is directly affected, it’s so minor but I think it’ll be a great help.”

She also noted neither Girl Guides or Fairview Elementary are purchasing any materials, nor promoting the sale of the ribbons.

It’s expected the ribbons will be available at select grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations in the near future.

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alex@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley