Sheffield — Four years ago, as Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, people across the U.S. began flying Ukrainian flags, tying blue and yellow ribbons to trees and mailboxes, posting social media links to organizations leading relief efforts. Poets in my hometown contributed to a chapbook titled “Busy Griefs, Raw Towns” to raise money and awareness for Ukraine. Similar efforts emerged everywhere—small gestures that offered a way to show support from across the world.
Now, exactly four years later, caught up in our own cold, long winter, we no longer see Ukrainian relief efforts on our Instagram feeds, and war coverage is more likely to be buried in the Opinion section, focusing on politics, than on the front page, focusing on the war’s ongoing desperate realities. Despite the appearance of apathy, the current war—Europe’s largest since World War II—has had a profound impact on the Ukrainian people, their infrastructure, and the post-Cold War global order.
Amid diminished global interest and commitment, Ukrainians find themselves plunged into the coldest and most difficult winter since the war began. Millions of city dwellers are struggling to stay warm with freezing temperatures and unreliable electricity, heat, and running water. “The scene has become one of quiet endurance and hardship and has grown into a humanitarian crisis deeper than any Ukraine has faced since the war with Russia began in 2022,” organizers of the upcoming “Borscht for Ukraine” fundraiser emphasize.
Beets to beat the winter
Berkshire neighbors and friends are invited to gather at Dewey Hall this Sunday, March 1, from 1 to 3 p.m. to enjoy a hot bowl of Ukrainian borscht with dark bread and assorted desserts. All proceeds will support Razom for Ukraine’s Winter Relief Campaign. Leading the efforts are siblings Alicia and Jorge Szendiuch, along with Jorge’s wife Maura O’Malley Szendiuch.
Alicia and Jorge’s parents were born in Ukraine and immigrated to Argentina in 1926. The family moved to the U.S. in 1963, settling in a Ukrainian community near Hartford, Conn. Like many Ukrainians, they maintained their language, culture, and customs wherever they lived. The family came to the Berkshires in 2010 to find a place where they could come together. Both Alicia and Maura have since become involved in the Sheffield community, working with Dewey Hall, the Sheffield Land Trust, and the Sheffield Times.
One of the traditions the family kept alive was the art of Ukrainian borscht cooking—a tradition so vital UNESCO included it on its “List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding” in 2022. The Szendiuch/O’Malley family has made their delicious borscht an essential part of many of the Northern Dutchess fundraising events to benefit Ukraine over the last four years, including four events since the beginning of the war. As Jorge explains, “André Wlodar [a Poland native and executive with the Swedish company, Cellmark Inc.] was making plans to evacuate orphans from Kyiv. He knew we were Ukrainian and reached out to Alicia and me within four weeks of the war breaking out, saying, ‘We have to do something. I’ll organize an event if you’ll make Ukrainian food.’”
That first event was held in March 2022, followed by a second event held at Troutbeck in Amenia, N.Y., in 2023. Two other fundraisers, hosted by Mark Lagus and Leevi Ernits (both with Estonian ties), were held at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., in June 2023 and July 2024. “For all of the Ukrainian fundraising events, Guido’s Marketplace has contributed all of the vegetables for the borscht, and for a few, Mazzeo’s Meat donated meat for the borscht as well,” O’Malley Szendiuch points out.
Dewey Hall to Razom—One community supporting another
“We know lots of elderly family friends still living in Ukraine who have to walk down 15 flights of stairs every time they need to seek shelter in the basement during air raids,” Szendiuch notes, adding, “We in Sheffield, and the Berkshire community can make a difference to alleviate the war’s impact on civilians most at risk by helping to provide life-saving support on the ground, helping communities survive and supporting public advocacy.“
Szendiuch, who shares a home workspace with his wife Maura O’Malley Szendiuch, has been inspired by Dewey Hall’s community engagement since she and Brian Healey became board co-chairs last spring. “It has a great mission and so much social value and purpose,” he says, “the perfect setting for an event to help another distant community through sharing the bounty of our local farms.”
All donations from the fundraisers have gone to Razom (which means “together” in Ukrainian)—the largest U.S.-based nonprofit supporting Ukraine. “Razom was brought to our attention immediately after the war began in February 2022 by Timothy Snyder, a prominent academic voice on modern European history and mass violence,” Szendiuch explains. “Snyder commented on the significance of the war for Western democracies and provided a list of organizations that offered support to Ukraine—including Razom, which was formed to provide humanitarian assistance after the Russian takeover of Crimea in 2014.”
All proceeds from this event will go to support Razom’s Winter Relief Campaign—one of many programs targeting specific challenges the Ukrainian people are now facing. Its 2026 mission includes helping people in small Ukrainian communities rebuild their lives and become more united and self-reliant by focusing on regions that have been liberated or are near the front line, as well as supporting displaced people and children in communities across Ukraine. The nonprofit has helped more than 1 million people by providing food and shelter, psychological support and clean water, winter supplies, and spaces for kids to learn and socialize. They do so by partnering with more than 150 local and grassroots organizations, empowering them to play an important role in humanitarian and recovery efforts by giving grants, building organizational capacity, creating opportunities for collaboration, and sharing knowledge.
Today, Ukraine is facing its most severe winter since the war began. As Razom CEO Dora Chomiak recently shared, “Millions of Ukrainians in cities across the country are living through freezing temperatures with unstable access to heat, electricity, and water. The result is a humanitarian crisis unlike any Ukraine has faced during the war so far. This is not an emergency that passes in a single news cycle. It is the daily reality of a nation still under full-scale assault after nearly four years.”
As Chomiak points out, Razom’s work is about more than endurance. “It is about ensuring Ukrainians retain agency, dignity, and the ability to hold the line—even in the dark.”
While this Berkshire winter is testing our patience and our spirits, their winter is a test of survival. “We hope the bread-and-borscht gathering will not only raise significant funds but also raise awareness of the increasingly desperate situation,” O’Malley Szendiuch notes. “From the response we’ve gotten so far, it’s obvious people are looking for tangible ways to help Ukraine.”
You can help by attending “Borscht for Ukraine” on March 1 or by making a donation (RSVP/donate here). Come share a warm meal, connect with neighbors and friends, and stand in solidarity with those enduring the harshest conditions of war. Through our support, we can show that their struggles are not forgotten.
