When Orléans resident Eileen McCaughey first read a story about Victoria Chechui and her decision to sponsor Ukrainian war refugee Nataliia Shemlei and her nine-year-old son Tymur in the Ottawa Citizen, she knew she found a new cause for her knitting group Busy Fingers.
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| Eileen McCaughey stands with Victoria Chechui in front of some of the more than 200 items being donated by the Busy Fingers knitting group to Ukrainian refugees relocating in Ottawa. FRED SHERWIN PHOTO |
Based out of McCaughey’s Fallingbrook home, Busy Fingers is composed of more than 100 members who knit hundreds of items every year for more than 30 charities. Last year, they donated more than 2,000 items to veterans’ groups, seniors’ homes and women’s shelters.
Victoria Chechui is a Ukrainian-born Ottawa businesswoman who immigrated to Canada more than 30 years ago. Despite the time and distance, she has been able to maintain a number of close relationships including with her friend Roman who is Shemlei’s husband.
When the war broke out in her native country, Chechui reached out to her old friend and suggested he and his family relocate to Ottawa until the conflict was over.
Roman elected to stay and fight along side his fellow countrymen, but he took up her offer to take his wife and son in.
The journey from Kyiv to Ottawa took more than a month and went through Moldova, Romania and Turkey.
Now in Ottawa, Natalie and Tymur are still adjusting to their surroundings, which includes English lessons.
When McCaughey read about the Shemlei’s odyssey, she immediately felt a need to do something. She first called the local Ukrainian church to see if she could donate some of her group’s knitting to area refugees through them, but they wanted to sell the items and buy food with the proceeds rather than give the items away.
This didn’t sit well with McCaughey since the group has an unspoken rule not to sell any of their knitting to anyone.
She then called Chechui and asked her if she would be willing to accept a few knitted items and give them away to Ukrainian refugees who will be relocating to Ottawa until after the war. Chechui immediately accepted.
What started out as few items turned into over 200 knitted hats, scarves, mittens and even dolls. They even threw in more than 60 tote bags sewn together by Busy Finger’s only male member, Roland Laframboise.
As an added touch, the group sewed or knitted the Ukrainian flag on each item.
And while they may not be needed during for a few months, they will come in handy once winter arrives.
“I saw a need and I knew we could help, so here we are,” says McCaughey. “It’s the least we could do.”
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