On Saturday, September 18, 2021, the Tiburon Yacht Club hosted a charity event organized by the Gromada Society and the Angelik Foundation. This charity gala was attended by more than 40 of the most active members of the society. The program of the evening was read by the host Yarema Kuzyshyn. He noted that the main event, which had been planned beforehand – a meeting with Ukrainian journalist and publicist Vitaliy Portnikov – would be held via video due to the pandemic and his inability to come to the United States.
Afterward, Andriy Shehera, a member of the Burima band, greeted the audience, and the band played several well-known Ukrainian songs and melodies. The club had a bar, delicious food on the tables (delivered by the efforts of Mr. Yuriy Kolesnikov), and good music encouraged the audience to socialize and have fun.
Singer Anichka delighted us with her beautiful singing. She performed a number of Ukrainian folk songs, including 2 Lemko songs. In conclusion, Anichka sang a song by ATO participant, navigator of the 16th separate army aviation brigade Serhiy Titarenko “Peaceful time will come”. The audience gave her a long round of applause and did not want to let her leave the stage.
Then Yarema announced an auction of 3 paintings by Ukrainian painter Myroslav Duzinkevych, who lives in New York, and whose work we wrote about in the July issue of our newspaper Hromada. The winners of the auction were: Orest Balytskyi, Tamara Donchenko and Olena Prendel. The auction proceeds of $1,240 went to the Angelik Charitable Foundation.
The auction was followed by a video meeting with Mr. Portnikov. An image of him appeared on the big screen in the hall, ready for communication. Natalia Anon took the floor as the host of the meeting. She asked him a number of questions related to the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, the development of statehood, the activities of the Ukrainian authorities, the state of reforms, and the democratization of society. Mr. Portnikov answered all of these questions in detail, sometimes giving his subjective opinions, which provoked a lively discussion in the room and the need for additional questions from the audience. The interesting discussion lasted more than 2 hours. Natalia Anon and the participants of the evening thanked Mr. Vitaliy for the interesting and informative time spent.
The evening continued with dancing to the incendiary music of VIA Burima, and the audience did not want to leave for a long time…
During this event, $2,888 dollars were raised, which will be used for the needs of children whose parents were killed defending the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The Gromada Society is grateful to everyone who contributed to the organization and holding of this charity event.
Glory to Ukraine!
