KISBEY - For more than 25 years, the Kisbey United Church has held an annual auction. Most times the proceeds from this fundraiser would help the church or be put towards missions.
This year the church members decided to help support families in need that are in Ukraine. Wendy Gordon, one of the organizers, said: “The money will go directly to the families in Ukraine.”
The auction took place at the Kisbey Recreation Centre on April 8, which brought in over 65 donated items. As the auction started, items were continuously added to the list.
Dellan Mohrbutter, an auctioneer and also owner of Key M Auctions, got a call at noon to help. The regular auctioneer became ill.
Michael Wyatt made sure to stay on top of bids and often encouraged the people to place one more bid. This proved to be helpful. A dozen homemade buns brought in $185. A price of $80 was paid for a slab of homemade brownies. This crazy and wild bidding continued till the end.
In Kisbey, they have a family from Ukraine. The Makar family immigrated to Canada 12 years ago and ended up in this small community.
Svitlana Makar, her husband who is a trucker, and their daughter had planned to return to Ukraine so their daughter could learn the culture and visit family, but now this is not possible.
Makar has family members in Ukraine. Her parents and sister live there, along with her mother-in-law and her husband’s sisters.
Makar stated, “my parents will not leave. They are helping displaced people. Often having a houseful to feed and give lodging to.”
Makar went on to say, “the emergency sirens go off several times a day, then my parents have to go into hiding.” Her parents and family are not in the war zone, but that can change at any time.
When the war first started, Makar said, “I could not eat and I could not sleep, all I could do was think about my family. I am so worried about them.” She calls her family two or three times a day, just to check in and see how things are going.
Makar’s sister has since gone to Holland, as her husband was already there. They have two young children. It is the hope of the Makar family to get her sister to Canada. Makar said, “There is so much paperwork to do, but it’s completed and now we wait and see.”
Makar spoke at the auction, addressing the crowd of approximately 60 people. She said, “I am so happy to be here, in a community that is so caring and helpful.” She thanked Charlotte for helping her to learn English.
She went on to say, “If you cannot donate, I understand. Please pray for the people of Ukraine, as that will help as well.”
When the auction was over and totals calculated, Gordon said they had raised over $10,000 and people were still donating.
This is what the people in small town Saskatchewan do.
