Guests will be delighted by the unique items available to bid upon at the auction

By Roman and Zoe Moskalenko

Roman and Zoe Moskalenko

We’ve all spent the holidays with our loved ones. We’ve wrapped gifts, gone to holiday parties, watched movies by the fireplace, and caught flights home for the holidays. But what if the gift on the top of your kids’ list is for their mom or dad to come home from the battlefield?

What if the place you went most was a bomb shelter? What if a fireplace was your only source of heat and light this winter? What if nobody could leave or enter your country by airplane, and instead of planes delivering loved ones to the airport, they dropped ballistic missiles on your house and school?

It breaks our hearts that Ukrainians spent yet another holiday season like this after 10 years. Russia invaded eastern Ukraine and Crimea in 2014, and in February of 2022 the full-scale invasion began. Since 2022, the Russian troops have gotten only stronger, as allying countries such as China and North Korea provide them with a constant supply of weapons.

Despite Russia’s massive losses, they are still coming at Ukraine stronger and stronger. The Ukrainian army continues to fight, but war fatigue is present on all fronts. Soldiers are at their physical and mental limits, Ukrainian citizens simply can’t afford to donate as much as they would like, and allies and international civilians are reluctant to continue sending aid and donations to Ukraine.

To talk about the military is to only scratch the surface. According to various news reports, hundreds of thousands of children have been deported to Russia, stripped of any human dignity by Russians.

Ukrainians and reliant countries are facing food insecurity. Ukrainians live with constant air-raid sirens, an endless reminder that the potential to be killed by Russia is looming.

Ukrainians abroad bear the constant pressure knowing that their home and loved ones will never be the same, if they are lucky enough to survive. If these things weren’t enough, the coldest months of the year have arrived. As we know from last year, winter brings a massive loss of electricity to Ukrainians during war. People struggle to stay warm and cook food, and their families abroad can’t contact them.

This is why we invite you all to join us to raise money for Ukraine, to help protect the people of this nation as the coldest month of the year approaches, win this war as soon as possible, end the genocide, and defeat war fatigue. Together we can show Ukraine that they are not alone and that we have their back.

We graduated from Morgan Hill’s private Oakwood High School in 2022, where we met and are now married. Now as newlyweds, we cordially invite you to join our charity auction where we ask you to wine, dine and bid generously to keep Ukraine’s fight for freedom burning bright. We hope you will join us 7 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 6, at Oakwood School.  The money raised from the bids will be donated through our nonprofit foundation, the LearnUA Foundation.

Despite all of the pain, talented Ukrainians have continued to create beautiful goods and services. Numerous Ukrainian businesses, some you may already know and love, and many that you don’t know but will definitely love, have been generous enough to provide different goods and services, which you can bid on.

We know that you will be delighted by the unique items available to bid upon at the auction. The evening will be filled with a hopeful spirit as we raise funds for Ukraine, and joy as we indulge in Ukrainian culture, food, and other festivities.

Happy New Year to all South Valley residents, and may we continue to come together for good and spread the spirit of the season all around the world.

Roman and Zoe Moskalenko are from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Morgan Hill respectively. They wrote this for Morgan Hill Life.