Alla Panchenko serving up homemade fish borscht, one of the many dishes enjoyed during Ukrainian Christmas celebrations. (Photo: LNN)

By Sarah Jones

Ukrainian refugee families honoring holiday traditions in Lethbridge

Jan 7, 2023 | 1:39 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The holiday season is not over quite yet, as many people will be celebrating Ukrainian Christmas over the weekend.

With nearly 16,000 Ukrainians living in Alberta, it’s estimated that close to 200 families have settled in Lethbridge after fleeing their war-torn home country.

Alla Panchenko and Veronica Mykoliachuk are just two of the women who have moved to Southern Alberta with their families in the past year.

While they have been adjusting to life in Canada, they are still keen on keeping their home-country traditions alive by celebrating Christmas on Saturday, January 7, 2023.

Panchenko, who was previously a chef for 15 years, prepared for the Christmas Eve celebrations by cooking several traditional dishes, including homemade perogies, borscht and kutia, which is a sweet grain dish made with poppy seeds, honey and raisins.

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Alla Panchenko (left) and Veronica Mykoliachuk (right) with their daughters. (Photo: LNN)

Mykoliachuk, who has been learning English at Lethbridge College for several months, said, “It’s not easy to celebrate Christmas [and] it’s our first Christmas in Canada. We left our parents, our brothers and sisters.”

“Every day we know that news from Ukraine, horrible news, and we understand that we are lucky,” Mykoliachuk added. “We have had many blessings in Canada.”

Organizations like Lethbridge Family Services and The Rotary Club of Lethbridge Downtown have lent a helping hand, assisting families and individuals over the past 12 months as they settle into their new home.

The two local organizations have been helping set refugees up with housing, furniture, household items, winter clothing, food, gift certificates and other donated items.

Todd Brown, Project Coordinator for the Lethbridge Rotary Club told LNN that they’ve been able to raise nearly $50,000 through grants and other community supports to help those coming to the city.

He said, “You can just see the fear of the unknown coming here but you can see they’re leaving everything.”

Brown continued, “It’s emotional because you really feel like you’re helping people.”

Alla Panchenko (left) and Veronica Mykoliachuk (right) now call Lethbridge home after fleeing Ukraine. (Photo: LNN)

Both women said that the Rotary Club has gone on to fully furnish their homes, and expressed sincere gratitude to all those who have helped make their transition to Canada that much easier.

“We are lucky, we are so happy,” remarked Mykoliachuk.

“These people have not just [helped], with gift cards or something, but just made it feel like family. They are our friends. It’s not just hands with help. It’s warm hugs and we feel like home,” she said.

Mykoliachuk and Panchenko explained that while both families celebrated Christmas on December 25th, they hope that by carrying on the Ukrainian traditional Christmas in January, their children will never forget where they came from.

“We want to keep our tradition, we want to remember our country and to keep our language in our families,” said Panchenko, through a translator.

She continued, “We are not sure about our grandkids, but we want to remind our kids. We are hopeful that they will know our traditions and they will keep them. It’s not easy to keep everything, but we will try to do what we can.”

Additional Ukrainian refugee families are anticipated to arrive in Lethbridge in the coming months.

Read more: LethbridgeNewsNow

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