NAMPA, Idaho — On Saturday, Idaho Ukrainian Lions Club will raise funds for refugees and those fighting on the front lines of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The club, made up of Ukrainians living in Idaho concerned about their homeland, started shortly after the latest Russian invasion.
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Julia Martin — a club member and Nampa resident — left Ukraine two decades ago, but most of her family still live in the country.
“We are Ukrainians. It’s personal,” Martin said. “I have family members fighting right now on the front lines. I have my cousin, a doctor, on the front lines right now. So, it’s personal.”
Since its establishment, the Idaho Ukrainian Lions Club has hosted several fundraisers, including a yard sale and baking event with authentic Ukrainian food on Saturday. It will be held on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 7025 W. Overland Rd. in Boise.
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“What we can do, we will,” club member Halyna Isaieva said.
Isaieva left Ukraine with her five children four years ago. Her family lived near the Black Sea, one of the areas hardest hit by the Russia-Ukraine war.
“It breaks my heart because my relatives are not with me, and it’s not a safe place,” Isaieva said.
On Friday, Martin and Isaieva spent their morning baking traditional Ukrainian desserts. One is an apple-filled strudel derived from Martin’s mother’s recipe, who Martin said recently fled Ukraine to Hungary.
Martin said that the yard and bake sale proceeds would go to Ukrainian refugees, aid organizations, and the local military.
“There are a bunch of guys stuck there trying to fight back. They don’t want to give up. They don’t want to quit,” she said. “We want to support them.”
For more information on supporting local efforts to help Ukrainians displaced by the Russia-Ukraine war, click here the page for the Idaho Alliance for Ukrainian Immigrants.
