Working visit to the United States 8 May 2022 15:22

During his working visit to the United States, President of the Association of Charities of Ukraine Oleksandr Maksymchuk visited the Washington DC, where he held several meetings with representatives of the volunteer community, leaders of charitable organizations and public figures working in the United States. Oleksandr Maksymchuk together with the staff of the US-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), a member of the Association of Charities, Nadezhda Khomazyuk and Oleksiy Slyusarenko, and the representative of the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States Kateryna Smagliy visited the opening of the Razom Charitable Foundation (Razom for Ukraine) in Washington.

The President of the Association addressed the event with a welcoming speech in which he thanked the team of “Together” Foundation for the great work in helping Ukraine in the unjust war. During the event he also presented the work of the Association and agreed with the President of the Charitable Foundation “Together” Maria Soroka and other activists of the Foundation to coordinate activities in Ukraine and the United States.

The “Together” Foundation started with a small group of like-minded people on social networks, and today there are about two hundred of them: active volunteers. There are branches in New York, Washington, Detroit and Philadelphia. After the Maidan, during which Razom managed to best mobilize financial resources, they sought to pursue long-term projects – to raise funds, for example, for Ukrainian education. But overseas, Ukrainian philanthropy had to be directed to the same goals as in the middle of the country. They provided medical equipment and assistance to the Ukrainian military, especially those returning from the war with post-traumatic stress disorder. Currently, the fund helps to overcome the consequences of the war and is actively involved in projects that will help Ukrainians.

On Saturday, May 7, 2022, at the end of a short visit to Washington, Alexander Maksimchuk attended a charity concert of Ukrainian-American bandura virtuoso Julian Kitasty, which took place at the Ukrainian House, which opened in September 2021 in the US capital (Ukraine House). This event is organized jointly with US Ukrainian Activists in support of the medical battalion Hospitallers Hospitallers, who save lives on the front lines in the harsh times when Ukraine is defending its freedom. A charity auction was also held during the event, where works of art by Ukrainian masters were presented.

During the concert and auction, a number of meetings were held with public figures: sculptor and author of the Memorial to the Victims of the Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide of 1932-1933, opened in 2015 in Washington by Larisa Kurilyas, one of the leaders of United Help Ukraine. Yuriy Deychakivsky, President of the US Ukrainian activists Nadezhda Shaporinska. Separately, Oleksandr Maksymchuk informed the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, Oksana Markarova, about the work of the Association of Charities of Ukraine to establish contacts with charitable organizations in the United States that help Ukraine. We have agreed with the officials of our embassy in the United States to coordinate such work and cooperate in the implementation of initiatives of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to systematize and expand charitable assistance to Ukraine.

All the above meetings of the President of the Association of Charities of Ukraine Oleksandr Maksymchuk in Washington could not have taken place without the assistance of the American-Ukrainian Business Council team, first of all its President Morgan Williams, directors Marina Antonova, Nadezhda Khomazyuk, Oleksiy Slyusarenko and program specialist Oleksandr. The Association and the Council are united by many years of cooperation and joint projects.