Ukrainians of Colorado, a registered nonprofit founded in 2014, started primarily as a social group, with a mission to preserve the Ukrainian heritage, language and culture in response to Russia’s invasion of — and ultimately annexation of — the Crimean Peninsula along the northern coast of the North Sea in Eastern Europe.
Marina Dubrova, alongside Irina Shatalova, Oksana Bantley, Nadja Myronenko, Chrystia Losianovich, co-founded the Lakewood-headquartered organization, but it wasn’t until this week that an official website was launched.
Now, the main driver of the entity’s efforts is to fundraise to help get necessary supplies to Ukraine in light of the war.
“We were doing all fundraising and festivals every year on our Independence Day, which is Aug. 24,” Dubrova said Saturday of the organization’s more humble beginnings. “It became a tradition after that. Now, we became a [grassroots] hub in all of Colorado” to offer monetary support to Ukraine.
Ukrainians of Colorado is now also working with Project C.U.R.E., out of Centennial, Colorado. “We met with them this week and came up with a plan,” Dubrova said. “And we started receiving donations and now we have more plans coming up. We will have a conference call on Monday, so based on the donations we have a lot of work to do.”
