On December 3rd, Nova Ukraine hosted its much-anticipated United Victory Event.

This celebration of remarkable achievements and the strength of the community’s commitment to supporting Ukraine marked a significant moment for the organization, reflecting on its journey and highlighting key accomplishments over the past two years.

In a moment of unity and resilience, participants gather at the ‘United for Victory’ event of Nova Ukraine, symbolizing the strength of a community bound together by hope, determination, and the shared pursuit of a brighter future

Nova Ukraine is a registered non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about Ukraine in the US and throughout the world and providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

The event welcomed guests to join for a memorable black-tie evening at the historic Green Room at 401 Van Ness Ave in San Francisco. All the guests live music, local artists and artisans, a delicious buffet, and a welcoming community.

At the heart of the celebration the director and a board member of Nova Ukraine Rodion Yaryy announced that the organization had successfully raised over $83 million during the last 2 years, a substantial increase from previous years. This financial support has played a crucial role in assisting more than 4.5 million people across various critical sectors in Ukraine.

“It’s fascinating how far we have come since the beginning of Nova Ukraine now collecting this large amount of money and being able to also report it. So it’s a great achievement for all of us. We also received two different awards from the president signifying how important our work is to help Ukraine. We recently received a number of awards within Ukraine, a lot of them being for our medical initiatives,” – explained Rodion Yaryy, director and a board member of Nova Ukraine. 

All the members of Nova Ukraine expressed gratitude to the audience for their continued support over these years, highlighting their contributions to Ukrainian education, humanitarian aid, evacuation efforts, and providing basic needs to Ukrainians. 

“I’m very grateful for your support. You have been with us for many years. You have embraced our priorities of investing in Ukrainian education, humanitarian aid for Ukraine, evacuating people from Ukraine, providing life basic needs to Ukrainians. All of this stuff we do is with your support and with close communication and feedback from all of you. And again, thank you to all of you and thank you for being with us today,” – shared Nick Bilogorskiy, Director and Co-Chairman of Nova Ukraine.

The organization has actively supported Ukrainian manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies, providing essential supplies such as surgical tables and clothing to different regions in Ukraine.

“If it’s springtime, we know that we might need to give seeds to the farmers to grow food, and if it’s winter time, we have to buy generators and worming supplies and we obviously need to continue to provide medical supplies with hospitals and first aid. So I think that’s what makes us good. That’s what people trust us, and yeah, I’m excited to continue the same work next year. I know that with the funds that we raise, we can really make a difference with our medical projects, with our refugee projects, with our humanitarian initiatives,” – shared Rodion Yaryy, director and a board member of Nova Ukraine. 

The event proved the resilience of the Nova Ukraine community, emphasizing its adaptability and strategic responses to the challenges faced in Ukraine. 

“I’m sure that we will win because Russia is the greatest evil of the day. We have a genocidal where in Ukraine we had the genocide in terms of now we have the genocidal war in Ukraine because the third part of territory is totally destroyed in Ukraine. Russia should be denuclearized and weaponized, and it should be isolated for a century in order just to have some time to realize what they’re doing wrong. They have no right to invade any countries, and they don’t have any chance to raise the green from the political map of the world because we have restored our territorial integrity like we have with our independence in 1991, and we’ll do, we’ll survive in this, I stay optimistic,” – shared his opinion one of the guests Volodymyr Goshylyk.

The key factor is the unity of people and the bridge between Americans and Ukrainians that Nova Ukraine has successfully built throughout the years. 

Joyous moments captured at the Nova Ukraine Holiday Party, where laughter echoes through the festive air and the spirit of togetherness fills the room. Glittering decorations, cheerful smiles, and a vibrant atmosphere mark this celebration as a testament to the strength of community and the warmth of shared festivities.

“Well, Nova Ukraine is a fantastic organization, works in the Bay Area, raised millions of dollars founded on awareness of Ukraine, and they’re heavily involved and active in supporting numerous causes. They partner with different organizations within the country of Ukraine to distribute donations and fundings to help humanitarian and all kinds of different outreaches. It’s almost the second year of war and with so much distraction going on in the world, we need to keep a focus on Ukraine and their struggle against invasion and essentially genocide by Russia. And they’re fighting for their lives and for democracy and for freedom, and it’s a fight that we must share with them in support,” – shared George Wesely, American with Ukrainian origin.

As Nova Ukraine approaches its 10th anniversary, the event became an opportunity to look back on the organization’s journey and express excitement about future endeavors.

“I think the primary reason for this event is to make sure that we thank our volunteers, our donors, our partners, people that have been with us throughout the last two years of Freescale War and the previous eight of 2014, and post-Revolution of Dignity. We’ve been with these people for a while, so for us it was a way to say thank you to the community, but also to get people to enjoy Ukrainian music, eat nice food, have Ukrainian artists here and vendors that you can purchase. Very cool items made by them. Yeah. This is our annual event. We are definitely going to have it next year. Next year is going to be probably the biggest one,’ –  

An enchanting tableau of Ukrainian decorations, each piece a testament to rich cultural heritage and artistic craftsmanship. The room comes alive with the warmth of embroidered textiles, wheat sheaves, and symbolic geometric patterns, creating a visual feast that not only celebrates the holiday season but also pays homage to the enduring beauty of Ukrainian heritage

The United Victory Event showed how the community came together with strength, unity, and hope during tough times to get Ukraine closer to the Victory.