There are days when Rostyk Hursky isn’t sure how he’s going to accomplish all the things he has planned to help his homeland of Ukraine.
He and his wife Olesya have some experience collecting aid as the founders of Stream of Hopes, a charity that sends supplies to orphanages in Ukraine.
So while this is a unique effort given the Russian invasion, they are drawing on their past experience — keeping sight of friends and family still in Ukraine.
The Hurskys have day jobs and three small kids but have no plans to stop.
“We sleep probably two or three hours a night. That’s our lives. We are lucky to have a shelter, our kids are healthy, and we are not being bombed. We take inspiration from our brothers and sisters in Ukraine,” he says.
Hursky moved to Toronto in 1992 and relocated to Saskatoon in 2006. He says he’s been humbled by the Saskatchewan support, but not surprised by how generous this community is.
Since they started the effort on Feb. 26, people have dropped off a total of about 10 tonnes of supplies, he said.
Trucking company Kindersley Transport has delivered loads of aid to Toronto or Edmonton so it can be loaded on a plane or ship bound for Poland, then Ukraine.
“You can’t move product without having some sort of transportation, we don’t have plans in our fleet, but we have a large fleet of trucks so that was our first reaction, what can we do to help,” said Corey Thiessen , with Kindersley Transport.
With ground transport covered, Hursky’s wish list has expanded, hoping to find someone with access to a plane to help.
Saskatoon’s fire department is pitching in too, sending gear on a plane from Edmonton, Hursky says.
It’s medical supplies and survival gear that are a big focus now with the war intensifying in more areas of the country, he says.