ROB MURRAY: I’m speaking with Bow Valley local Liza Kanishcheva. I understand you’re originally from Ukraine. How long have you been in Canada and where did you come from?

LIZA KANISHCHEVA: I moved to Canada about eight years ago. I’ve been in the Bow Valley for the past five.

RM: With this conflict in Ukraine we’re learning a lot about some of the specific places that most Canadians probably didn’t know about. I mean, what city or area were you from?

LK: I’m actually from Kharkiv. That’s one of the cities that got hit the most. We’re very close to Russia, about 30 minutes away from the border.

RM: Do you still have family and friends in Ukraine?

LK: My whole family is in Ukraine, mostly in Kharkiv. At the start of the war my parents, my brothers, my cousins, my grandparents, they are all in Ukraine. On the seventh day of the war I had a conversation with my parents about how they need to leave Ukraine because it would be much safer for them to be in Canada with me. That was a tough conversation to have, for them to leave everything behind, but we were able to get them out of Ukraine which I’m very grateful for. The Bow Valley community has been very helpful in terms of that.

RM: That’s so great that you were able to bring them to safety here. It must be heartbreaking, though, to hear the stories and see the photos of your former hometown and what’s been happening to it.

LK: Definitely. It’s hard to watch all the news and videos, but I feel like I need to stay on top of it. I’m trying to help my people and my family in Ukraine. They’re trying to not watch all the news and trying to stay calm and not panic, but I feel I’m in the position to actually have a chance to read through and tell them some information about what’s about to happen. I could actually kind of give them a heads up. I’m trying to help along the humanitarian aid that I’m trying to gather. That’s going pretty successful so far.

RM: Yeah, let’s talk about that. Ukraine is very far away from us here in Canmore, obviously, but you’re doing what you can. What are you collecting right now, and what are you asking for from the community?

LK: I was asking my friends in Ukraine, how can I help them? I was telling them that I could send any amount of money that I could possibly gather, which I think would be pretty easy, but they said that they don’t really need money at the moment. They need material stuff like medical supplies and first aid kits. The demand is changing almost every day – like, at first they were asking for clothing, but they were so overwhelmed with donations that they stopped accepting clothing. My list is always changing. At the moment I’m gathering humanitarian aid. However, the most helpful is financial contributions, because I can actually buy things in bulk of the same product and I could have the labels and everything to present, because everything needs to be brand new, to be sent to Ukraine. I’m working with a transportation company that is based in Toronto but they do have a branch in Calgary. Basically, I gather all the humanitarian aid, I label it, I package it myself, and then I ship it from Calgary to Lviv, which is a city in Ukraine. From Lviv it gets distributed everywhere it’s needed in Ukraine.

RM: How many boxes have you delivered so far?

LK: Four.

RM: How can people contribute to what you’re doing?

LK: I have a Facebook group, which is the best way to stay in touch and get all the updates. I actually have two drop off locations. In Banff, my good friend Carly is the owner of The Albion Room hair salon in the Bear Street Mall. She’s agreed to accept donations at her salon Monday through Saturday. They could also drop it off at my place here in Canmore in the industrial area. All the details could be found on my Facebook group. You can also find the link to the GoFundMe page where I’m gathering all the financial contributions. With half of it I’m buying the supplies and the other half I’m donating to some foundations that I know of in Ukraine. I know where the money is going, and they’re buying all the essential supplies like radios and military gear and vehicles that they really need right now.