The community of Winnipeg has raised over $81,000 for the family of Ivan Rubanik, a Ukrainian refugee who was stabbed before the holidays.
Rubanik was walking to work at Westward Industries in the Elmwood neighbourhood on Dec. 20 when he was suddenly stabbed.
He was taken to the hospital, where he later died as a result of his injuries.
Rubanik was a recent immigrant from Ukraine having only been in the country and city for about a year. He left behind his wife Yulia and his two children.
His co-worker Jasen Dillon and others set out to raise money for the family by starting a GoFundMe with an initial goal of $10,000.
“We hit that rather quickly, we raised it again to 20, raised it to 30, and then someone said let’s try to really make some money for the family,” Dillon said.
The current total amount raised for the family is $86,672.
Dillon explained how Rubanik was the sole income earner for the family and Yulia speaks very little English.
“They don’t have a great support system here. Trying to find a job with the broken English that she has could be very difficult right now, and the stress of having to bury your husband after just moving to a new country is something else,” he said.
Late last week, officers charged 19-year-old Ethan Gladu with second-degree murder, saying they believed the attack to be random.
People can continue to donate to his family by going to Rubanik’s fundraising page.