When the Silvaggio family heard Ukrainians were fleeing their home country for safety, they instantly wanted to help.
The family lives in Coalhurst, Alta., and with a couple of spare rooms available in their home, Sherry Silvaggio knew she had to reach out.
“It’s a mom thing,” she said. “How do you not?
“I would want my kids to have the bedrooms, the toys, the clothes, someone that would work hard to make us safe — so that’s what we are going to give them.”
The Ukrainian family of four is from Kyiv and will be travelling here with their two dogs.
“We’ve got mom and dad — so that’s Olena and Fadi — they are wonderful. They seem just like us: they have big hearts and they are funny, they are hard working,” said Silvaggio. “The two girls are 14 and 17: Ameliia and Diana.”
Silvaggio’s son, 10-year-old Landyn Barron said he’s already downloaded some games on his PS4 the girls said they liked when they had a chance to facetime with each other. “It was really exciting to see them and they are really nice, they are very nice.”
Silvaggio said Fadi has already been offered a job in Lethbridge, but the family is fundraising to help with the expensive flights and travel costs to get here.
“Anything left over is going towards them getting back on their feet because they’ve lost everything. They’ve spent everything. They have of their own to get their tickets. We are really just trying to build them a base to start out here.”
Olena will be looking for accounting work once she is settled and the two girls are enrolled in school.
Silvaggio said the community has been key to helping the Ukranian family.
“We’ve had so many donations from the community. People here in Coalhurst have given us beds, other people have donated single beds, mattress toppers, blankets, clothing galore.”
The family is expected to fly into Canada in roughly two weeks.
A crowdfunding page has been set up by Silvaggio. She’s also making and selling stickers as a fundraiser, which are available via email.