An incredible show of support in the Red Lake community has led to over $55,000 in donations to support Ukraine’s military members and three Ukrainian charities.
Ukrainian-born Dr. Kostyantyn Bulavintsev with the Red Lake Dental Clinic, known locally as ‘Dr. Kosta’, and his wife have been working to collect donations to support their home country in the fight against Russia’s illegal invasion, to help in any way they could.
The campaign wrapped up about two months later, after collecting over $25,000 in cheque, cash and e-transfer donations from Red Lake, the northwestern Ontario community, Dr. Kosta’s classmates and more.
Now, Dr. Kosta has announced he has matched all donations made dollar for dollar, and provided bank statements to show that $55,730 has been donated to help his home country.
Donations include over $19,000 to the Ukraine Military, $24,187 to the Charity Ukraine Foundation Come Back Alive, $6,508 to the Charity Country Defence Foundation Ukraine and $5,895 to the Nikopol Regional Charitable Fund Nikopol’s Children.
“We are so grateful to Red Lake community, [the] community of northwestern Ontario, out of province contributors, Dr. Kosta's classmates from Dalhousie University, [media] and [Eric] Melillo MP,” said Dr. Kosta, in a prepared statement.
Dr. Bulavintsev’s campaign began shortly after Russia’s invasion on February 24, which has continued to threaten the independence of 44 million Ukrainian residents.
In mid-March, Kenora MP Eric Melillo spoke about Dr. Kosta’s generosity and support for the people of Ukraine while delivering his Members Statement at the House of Commons, which received applause from MPs across the country.
