Fundraiser for Ukrainian Children and Families Held in Southern California

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Event organizer, Eddy Perez displays his cell phone as CMCF Country Managing Director for Ukraine, Doctor Zoryana Ivanyuk, speaks to attendees from Lviv by Zoom during a rally to support Ukrainian refugee families held at Bridgeport Community Park in in Santa Clarita on Saturday. Photo by Dan Watson of The Signal.

Supporters of Ukraine came together in Southern California this past Saturday for a humanitarian charity rally to raise funds to aid children and families affected by the war raging in that country. The event featured musical performances in a variety of styles sung in both Ukrainian and English, impassioned appeals to support the Children’s Medical Care Foundation’s efforts to assist children and families in Ukraine and even a Zoom call from Ukraine.
Among those invited to speak were Santa Clarita City Councilman Bill Miranda and State Assemblywoman Suzette Valladares. The event’s organizer, who also served as Master of Ceremonies, was Eddie Perez, a Santa Clarita resident whose wife is Ukrainian.Mr. Perez’ voice cracked as he shared with the crowd a telephone conversation he had days before with his niece in Ukraine in which she asked her uncle-when are you going to come get me? This broke Mr. Perez’ heart. He didn’t know what to say. Nor, as he knew had to be true for so many others, did he know quite what he could do to be of help in this most trying and traumatizing time. He only knew he had to do something, and within days he pulled together an ambitious event which provided a way for those who shared his sorrow to turn that feeling into real help.We cannot thank Mr. Perez enough for his initiative-it was he who approached our foundation with the idea of organizing an event to raise funds on our behalf-and for the enormous amount of effort it undoubtedly required of him to realize it. To date the event has generated over $16,700.00.

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