A layered cake with delicate and detailed frosting, and a bottle of water from the spring near where she was born in Ukraine stick out of Calgary’s Maria Sveyko’s shopping cart.
“We came for some comfort food,” she said. “My heart is broken, I’m crying, I can’t stop. I watch TV, I watch the news, I can’t stop.
“I don’t understand it. Nobody wants the war.”
Sveyko is one of many flocking to Calgary’s Kalyna Store.
Its shelves are lined with delicious foods and wares from Ukraine. The owners said the phones have been ringing non-stop since Russia’s invasion of their home country.
Calgarians eager to show their support some are even leaving money to support Ukraine’s army.
“It’s amazing. Of course we will send it,” said Tetiana Usenko, owner of Kalyna Store. “The support from Canadians is incredible.”
“It’s really busy. A lot of people are coming. They are asking about things with Ukrainian symbols like flags,” store manager Iryna Pidburtna said. “I’m so grateful for them for coming here.”
Pidburthna’s entire family still lives in Ukraine. She came to Calgary with her husband three years ago and admits she hasn’t slept much in the past two days.
“I’m shaking all the time, but when I call my family I am trying to be strong, thinking ‘How I should support them mentally, financially and also spread the right information on the internet?'” she said, adding she keeps waking up hoping recent events are a nightmare.
“My panicking, my anxiety can’t help my relatives, but we have to be strong.”
The Canadian Red Cross has launched the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal to help with efforts on the ground.
“We are seeing huge humanitarian needs the situation is evolving minute by minute hour by hour. The primary need is the need for first aid,” said Kelsey Lemon, vice president of international cooperation and programs with Canadian Red Cross.
The Canada-Ukraine Foundation is also raising funds. Alberta’s provincial government pledged $1 million to that appeal.
But some Ukrainian Calgarians said the need is greater than just making a donation.
“I was asking (family in Ukraine) how can I help. And they told me, ‘Try to tell the truth. There’s a war and it needs to be stopped,'” said Sveyko.