You may have watched the recent Art for Peace concert with Opera InReach that raised over $12,000 for Ukrainian relief. More and more artists are coming forward to support Ukrainian resistance and freedom.

a Slovenian Youth Orchestra and their dedication to brave Ukrainian people who suffer under the brutal Russian invasion. These youthful Slovenian musicians performed this beautiful Russian poem of Sergei Yesenin: The Golden Birch-Tree Grove Has Fallen Silent (see the poem below). They dedicated this song to all brave Ukrainian people who will never surrender. Their freedom is our freedom. Their lives are our lives!

The golden birch-tree grove has fallen silent. Its merry chatter having stopped afore./ The cranes up there flying over, sullen./ Have nobody to pity any more. Whom should they pity?/ Each is just a trotter. One comes and goes and leaves for good again. The moon and hempen bush above the water. Remember all those perished, filled with pain. I’m standing on the plain all on my own./ The cranes, the wind is taking them away, I think about my boyhood which has flown./ And I do not regret my bygones anyway. I don’t regret the days that I discarded, I don’t feel sorry for the lilac of my soul. The purple rowan burning in the garden. Can’t warm and comfort anyone at all. The rowan will maintain its coloration. The grass exposed to heat will not decease, I drop my words of sorrow and vexation./ The way a tree drops quietly its leaves. And if some day the wind of time intended./ To rake them all up in a useless roll... You ought to say: the golden grove has ended Its lovely chatter in the prime of fall.

He recently recorded it at the outbreak of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. If you’re an Instagram fan, here’s that recording from early March. This is the original from 1984…

Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of supporters, the Government of Canada match of $30 million has been met as of March 4, 2022. Your donation to Red Cross will support those impacted by the crisis in Ukraine.

Your $75 donation goes where it is needed most.

Money raised will enable the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to respond to humanitarian needs generated by almost eight years of conflict, as well as preparedness and response efforts due to heightened tensions in Ukraine. The support could include preparedness, immediate and ongoing relief efforts, long-term recovery, resiliency, and other critical humanitarian activities as needs arise, both in Ukraine and surrounding countries, including supporting populations displaced.

Donate to Ukraine (Click Here)