World Dance For Humanity holds Santa Barbara event
People and local politicians brave A rainstorm to rally at the Santa Barbara Courthouse on Saturday in support for Ukraine and to mark the
first anniversary of the country’s defense against a Russian invasion.
Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of News-Press articles about efforts to support Ukraine.
Friday marked the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On Saturday, World Dance for Humanity held a rally in support of Ukraine at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse.
World Dance for Humanity has also partnered with the First Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church of Santa Barbara to raise more than $200,000 for Ukrainian refugees and wounded soldiers.
“It (the rally) was incredible. It started out not raining, but it was pouring by the end. It was totally perfect because it gave us a tiny feeling of Ukraine, except in Ukraine you can’t go home and turn on the heat,” Janet Reineck, director and founder of World Dance for Humanity, told the News-Press.
Rally speakers included 1st District Supervisor Das Williams, Assemblyman Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara), U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), Erica Reyes from U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal’s office, District Attorney John Savrnoch, Ms. Reineck, Aazam Feiz (a professor at UCSB) and local Ukranians Oksana Yakushko, Tatyana Taruta, and Tatyana and Oleg Marchenko.
Ukrainians.
Ms. Reineck estimated a couple of hundred people were in attendance at the rally. “It was amazing.The people and officials speaking had been to Ukraine or were very much involved in calling out for support to Ukraine from America. These were people who have been really involved in supporting Ukraine.
“The struggle for democracy and freedom is everyone’s struggle,” she continued. “It’s about sovereignty and not allowing countries to take over other countries. The speeches were very passionate and articulate about the cause, and I think the people and the audience who came were a mix of Ukrainians and the local community who care about Ukraine. There were American and Ukrainian flags and posters in support of Ukraine. Nobody left when it started raining even though it was a pretty good downpour, which started about 20 minutes in and lasted until the end.”
Assemblyman Hart told the News-Press, “As we have recently passed the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, it is important to demonstrate community solidarity for the brave and heroic people of Ukraine in their resistance against the Russian invasion. I was very proud when President (Joe) Biden visited President (Volodymyr) Zelensky in Kyiv to demonstrate the American commitment to Ukraine and to the world that the U.S. is a determined ally to protect democracy and freedom everywhere in the world.”
The News-Press asked Ms. Reineck what the atmosphere was like during the rally. “People were feeling passionate about Ukraine and its people. People were very emotional about what it meant to be in a war for a whole year and to see deep support for local Ukrainians, as well as Ukrainians feeling emotional about American support. There was lots of emotion and feeling. The speeches were unusually emotional. It was very successful; it brought together people who care about this.”
Local Ukrainian Oleg Marchenko made a presentation to World Dance for Humanity, where she listed everything the nonprofit has bought for shelters in Ukraine with the money raised. Items include propane stoves, headlamps, wood-burning stoves, T-shirts, socks and toys for Christmas.
Ms. Reineck was the final speaker at the rally.
“I spoke about keeping this alive in people’s hearts and minds. There are very real people who are suffering and we can do something to help. Ukraine has a special place in our hearts. It was an incredible experience, and we could feel Ukraine because of the rain.
“In the end, we had a prayer circle for Ukraine and played Brad Paisley’s recently released song ‘Same Here,’ featuring President Zelensky.”
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
Tuesday’s News-Press: The leader of Direct Relief discusses the Goleta-based nonprofit’s efforts in Ukraine, past and future.
FYI
You can listen to Brad Paisley’s song, “Same Here,” at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt3WVHLywto, The song features Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Santa Barbara-based World Dance for Humanity also holds weekly Zoom calls on Sundays at 10 a.m. called “Dance and Dialogue.”
World Dance describes the Zoom sessions as a cultural experiment that may be unique in the world. The nonprofit is inviting viewers around the world, including Ukrainians in Ukraine, to join the organization in its Sunday Zoom class so people can, for an hour, be present in each other’s lives. You can join the Zoom call at the following link: https://zoom.us/j/823393549#success.
