SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)- On Sunday, people of Syracuse and the local Ukrainian Community rallied at the James M Hanley Federal Building. People were waving Ukrainian flags, holding signs protesting Russia and even singing the Ukrainian National Anthem. The Syracuse Peace Council organized the event along with several Ukrainian leaders. Diane Swords, a member of the Steering Committee for the Syracuse Peace Council, said the council and the Ukrainians came together, even if their views differed.
“Yeah, we had no idea that there were gonna be such great numbers of Ukrainians there,” Swords said. “Both they and our group handeled it very well in terms of communicating with one another. I think it came out about as well as it could for two groups with some agreement and some divergence in what we’re calling for.”
The Syracuse Peace Council is just one of many organizations which have shown their support for Ukraine. Last week, the Wildcat Sport Bar and Pub in Camillus dumped its supply of Russian vodka on the ground. The Ukrainian National Home has been running supply drives to gather needed items to send to Ukraine. On Mar. 2nd, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon cosigned a letter to President Joe Biden saying Syracuse is able to take in Ukrainian refugees.
“Syracuse and Onondaga County have historically served as a safe haven for refugees from various partsof the world,” they wrote. “Our community has long been home to a strong and proud Ukrainian community, joining New York State as home to the largest Ukrainian population in the United States.”
For others, their work is a lot more personal to Ukraine. Linh Nguyen, the president of the Ukrainian Club at Syracuse University, came to the United States from Ukraine to get her master’s degree. Nguyen currently works at the Institute for Veterans and Military Families and is aiming to raise money to buy supplies for the Ukrainian Armed Forces
“We have started the fundraising efforts to buy what we call combat application tourniquet,” Nguyen said. “They are a special tourniquet that allow us to stop the bloodshed during the combat.”
Nguyen is doing all she can from abroad to help the fight for Ukrainian freedom, as well as to honor those who have fallen to afford her the freedom she has.
“I had a few friends who died in 2014 when we got first invaded when the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in my country were occupied,” Nyugen said. “Those people in my heart will always live. And that’s why I do what I can in being far away from Ukraine.”
If you are looking to donate to support Ukraine, the Ukrainian National Home and St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church are collection points for goods to be sent to Ukraine.
