National CYMK-UOY Spring 2021 Newsletter Greetings to all of our CYMKivtsi, families, and Ukrainian Orthodox Community members! As we have now reached the one-year mark of the impacts of COVID- 19 on our world, we are proud of the work our CYMKivtsi have put in to stay active within their locals and our organization as a whole, during these challenging and uncertain times! Our National CYMK Executive has been busy over the past months working to incorporate our 4 Pillars of: Faith, Culture, Leadership, and Fellowship into the lives of our Ukrainian Orthodox Youth. These have been very tough times for all, amidst the global pandemic, but like many others we have turned to technology to continue to keep connected. Monthly Online Youth Discussion Sessions We have been hosting monthly online youth discussion sessions led by various clergy members from across Canada! We are very thankful for the support we have received from clergy in helping us lead these sessions, and the support we continue to have for upcoming discussions. We have addressed and discussed a number of wonderful topics including "Orthodoxy and Modern Science," "Social Media and Technology," "Holiday Traditions," "Differences Among Religions," and "Spiritual and Mental Health." These sessions have allowed our youth to participate in discussions with topics relevant to their every-day lives, and to share a better understanding of the church's stance and position regarding a number of common questions. Our next session will be held on Thursday March 25, 2021 being lead by Fr. Chad Pawlyshyn on the topic of "Keeping Youth/Young Adults Involved in the Church!" We look forward to this upcoming session, and hope you will all be able to join in! The links for the online discussions are shared via Facebook and Instagram prior to each session, and through email to our registered CYMK members. If you would like to ensure you have the link for these sessions, please contact our National CYMK Executive to be included on the email list for the events! National CYMK Service Trip to Ukraine Due to the impacts and restrictions with COVID-19, our National CYMK Service Trip to Ukraine has been postponed, and will not be occurring this Summer 2021 as originally planned. Our National Executive is continuing to work to put together the Trip at a later date, and will be sure to share information once confirmed! 2020-2021 Membership Registration CYMKivtsi, please complete your registration for the 2020-2021 year ASAP so we are able to confirm membership at this time! If you are part of a CYMK local, please complete our registration form here [also available on our website]: https://forms.gle/anKc3qPSCgk7ggUC7 If you are not currently a member but are interested in joining CYMK, please feel free to email our National CYMK Executive for information on a local near you, supports to help start a local, or how to join as an independent member! Above is the membership registration form as seen online. Please note that not all fields are "required" so you may fill out the form as you feel comfortable. The form information will be kept confidential and will only be shared for communication purposes with Provincial CYMK (only in Alberta, if applicable), National CYMK, and National USRL. CYMK Movie Night We held our first virtual movie night in February, viewing the film "Mr. Jones" which is a drama about the Holodomor. Following the viewing, we had a Q&A session with Jars Balan, which was a very insightful and educational experience! We are very grateful to have such wonderful and supportive members of our Ukrainian Orthodox Community. We will be planning additional movie nights into the future, and are open to suggestions on films to screen! UOCC Sobor Youth Event National CYMK has been asked to plan a youth portion for the Ukrainian Orthodox Youth in conjunction with the upcoming Sobor. Sobor will be taking place virtually from July 14-18, 2021. We are looking to plan some virtual events for UOY, and will share updates once confirmed! If you have any recommendations or ideas for a virtual Sobor youth program, please feel free to share them with our National CYMK Executive! The Lenten Challenge In collaboration with CYM, Plast, and MUNO [other UCC youth organizations], and with the Blessing of Metropolitan Yurij, our National CYMK Executive is proud to present "The Lenten Challenge" which is a six-week mindfulness prayer and reflection program in preparation for Easter! Each week there will be an overall theme in which a gospel verse, various prayers, and reflection activities relate to. There are daily prayers, journaling and/or reflective activities to take part in, at your own pace and ability! To start off for the first week of Lent, the theme for the week is "Repentance." You can visit our Social Media pages for the week's gospel verse and daily activities, or you can sign-up to receive the information via email using the following link: https://forms.gle/ty7jnzzDwpJppkPm9 If you have any further questions regarding this challenge, please feel free to reach out to our National Executive! Top 10 Pandemic Activities for CYMK Locals As it can be very difficult to stay involved with locals at this time, due to the various restrictions in place for COVID-19 across the country, we have put together a variety of activity ideas for how our locals can continue to be active, during these unpredictable times! 1. Do a project with a local shelter that works with people experiencing homelessness: you can make lunches/meals, collect socks/winter-wear/hygiene products, or ask parish members to help by donating some money and supplies! 2. Join a virtual National CYMK-UOY Event: National CYMK has been hosting monthly online youth discussions, along with other activities that can help engage our UOY from home! 3. Partner with your local UCC in activities they are doing: there are a number of activities occurring in our Ukrainian communities... try getting in touch with your local UCC branch, or check out social media pages for activities you can get involved in! 4. Organize a virtual cultural event: With Easter coming up, consider a virtual pysanka or paska making session! Other activities can also include embroidery or art projects. Look for someone in your parish or community that could help lead a session, and check with your members for what supplies will be needed and can get distributed to make the event possible! 5. Do something outdoors that fits with the safety rules/ restrictions in place: A socially-distanced and masked tobogganing, skating, skiing, picnic, walk, or hike session can be a wonderful way to allow your local youth to safely engage with one another for a fun CYMK day! With online burnout occurring as so many activities are now online, try to find a way to safely get together with your local members and step away from the internet! 6. Organize a virtual fundraiser for a good cause: Check to see if anyone in your community is already leading a fundraiser your CYMK local can participate in/support, or consider what causes in your local community or broader communities you may be able to support at this time! [There are many in need during these challenging times locally, across Canada, and internationally!] 7. 40-day 40-item Give-away: With Lent having just started, consider doing a self- project or local project in which each day of Lent, youth select one item they are able to donate to a good cause! Your local can work to select specific items, or donate the items together to local organizations. 8. Host a local virtual fellowship night: There are a number of online resources such as Jackbox games over Zoom, or hosting a virtual movie night that can be done by a local to help keep youth engaged with one another in a fun way! 9. Parish Spring Cleaning: look into ways your local can help support your parish by volunteering to clean the inside and/or outside of your churches to prepare for spring and Easter! 10. Partner with you local Ukrainian Senior Facilities: With respect to the varying restrictions in place across Canada, look into ways you can reach out to your local seniors by visiting them if allowed, writing cards so they know youth are thinking of them, helping support them by picking up groceries or other necessary items, or give them a call to check in and see how they are doing during these difficult and isolating times! These are just some of the many ways CYMKivtsi can stay active and involved during these COVID times, and we look forward to seeing all the wonderful work you are doing across Canada! Alberta CYMK Update In January 2021, we held our Annual AUSRL Convention virtually, along with the Alberta CYMK AGM. We are proud to recognise 5 active CYMKivtsi who have been awarded the AUSRL CYMK-UOY Bursary 2020. This Bursary is presented annually to active CYMK members in Alberta who achieve excellence in academics while contributing to the growth and development of CYMK-UOY. The recipients are registered students in a post-secondary institution, with preference to first-year students. The awards were delivered socially-distanced in-person, and were formally presented virtually during the Convention weekend! Santina Dowbush, First Time Recipient, 1st Year-King's University Pavlo Tsisar, First Time Recipient, 1st Year-University of Alberta Adam Jereniuk, Second Time Recipient, 2nd Year-Brock University Nikolai Kruhlak, Second Time Recipient, 2nd Year-University of Alberta Marco Kruhlak, Fourth Time Recipient, 3rd year-University of Alberta Winnipeg CYMK Local Update These past few months have been exciting for Winnipeg CYMK and our members! Despite being in the middle of a global pandemic, the CYMK team has managed to find many ways of helping in our community while still keeping everyone healthy.