Two Notre Dame Juniors Help Out with Fundraising Efforts for War-torn Ukraine

Notre Dame Prep juniors Zenon Lewyckyj and Stefan Jurkiw put in a great deal of time and effort in a Detroit suburb recently to help with raising money and awareness for the efforts of the “Save Ukraine Now” campaign. Save Ukraine Now was organized by the Ukrainian American Civic Committee of Metropolitan Detroit to help Ukrainians currently embroiled in a conflict with Russian-backed separatists that has created 1.9 million refugees within and outside the county, as well as many casualties.

The April 28 and 29 event was held at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Warren, Michigan, where well over 200 individuals of various ethnicities and faiths gathered to learn about the current situation in Ukraine and how they can help the refugees and displaced persons.

According to Gene Jurkiw, Stefan’s father, Save Ukraine Now was founded to respond to the current humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. “The war in Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine has affected five million people, with 1.2 million internally displaced within the country,” he said. “At least 6,225 people have been killed and 15,511 wounded from mid-April 2014 to April 17, 2015.”

Retired U.S. General Wesley K. Clark, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, and presidential candidate, who wants the United States to provide the Ukrainian government with arms to battle separatists, was on hand April 28 at the Cultural Center.

Lewyckyj and Stefan Jurkiw worked at the event to help distribute press and VIP credentials, coordinate with the events security detail in order to keep things orderly and peaceful, hand out event programs, and to generally assist the event committee members with many errands.

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Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.