Langley residents are helping organize and promote a concert to aid people in the unstable Ukraine.
Walter Stunder, whose family hailed from Ukraine, is a local businessman and supporter of Humanitarian Aid Response Teams, or HART.
He has spent years working with the group to deliver aid to Ukraine and other regions in Eastern Europe.
“We try to look after the basics,†Stunder said.
Dennis and Eva Spenst, a local couple who have been heavily active in their community, including working on the B.C. Summer Games in 2010.
Dennis’s family came from Odessa, a Ukrainian city on the coast of the Black Sea.
All of them are concerned about the situation in the country that has lost Crimea to Russia.
It has been convulsed by protests, and now by an apparent land grab of its eastern areas by the Russian government.
Because the government of Ukraine has severe financial issues, many basic services are not being met.
That goes double for regions like Crimea, where Stunder has family.
“They’re doing very badly, really,†he said.
Some relatives there are three months behind on their pensions and have very little to live on.
“They’re basically living off the land,†Stunder said.
HART supports orphanages, allows people to sponsor children, and hosts initiatives like mobile medical and dental clinics.
The trio is hoping to garner some funds for HART’s work in Ukraine with a concert to be held in Surrey on May 2.
The concert will be held in the Oasis Room of the Elim Village complex at 9025 160th St., with desert and coffee to start at 6:30 p.m.
A Class Brass concert will be held at 7 p.m., with a presentation by HART in between performances. For tickets, contact HART at 1-888-788-3880 or email www.bctickets@hart.ca.