The Bentley Moose Jaw, a Revera Retirement Living property, held a day of fundraising with residents and staff to raise money to help Ukrainians affected by Russia’s attack — their efforts resulted in an $1,806 donation to the Salvation Army.
“So, Rod (Bearchell), who is our sales consultant, was kind of the leader in this, and he got the donations and he arranged for the bingo to happen,” said Denise Buekert, executive director of The Bentley. “We had bingo in the afternoon, we had our penny parade throughout the afternoon and into the evening, and in the evening we had (Tavria Ukrainian Folk Dance Ensemble) come from Regina.”
Buekert said that many of the members of the Tavria Ukrainian dance school had relatives at The Bentley, so it was important for them to come and perform in Moose Jaw.
“We just want to say thank you to The Bentley for thinking of us,” said Almeta Ward, a Lieutenant for the Moose Jaw Salvation Army.
Her husband Lester Ward, also a Salvation Army (SA) Lieutenant, said the full amount would be sent to the SA in Ukraine.
“Every bit of it goes toward support for the people in Ukraine,” he affirmed. “There’s nothing taken out of this, there’s nothing used locally out of this. It goes straight to our headquarters in Toronto, and then straight from there to our headquarters in Ukraine.”
Almeta Ward said that the Moose Jaw SA has been keeping up to date with what their counterparts in Ukraine are doing.
“We see pictures of what’s happening there, and the work that the Salvation Army is doing. It’s sad, but it’s great to know that within our organization there are people there that are helping.”
Buekert and her staff and the residents chose the SA because they were confident their money would be well used for the intended cause.
“The money came from our residents and our staff, and we received donations from the public,” she said.
“We want to donate money somewhere it could be used … It’s a good cause to donate to Ukraine, for the war that’s going on there right now.”
