About Us
S.O.S. Ukraine is an all-volunteer-run charity founded in 1993. We began by installing wells and running water to homes, supplying elementary schools and orphanages with children’s necessities, and providing basics of life to families in western Ukraine.
At the outset of the 2022 invasion, we extended our reach to internally displaced families fleeing eastern war zones.
We continue to provide for those in greatest need with the essentials of life – food, clothing, hygiene items, shelter, and medicines. Priorities are single mothers with small children, the elderly, and the disabled. We also provide life-saving first aid to soldiers and the injured.
Our overseas volunteers are honest, committed individuals who ensure that your donations reach vetted recipients.
Your gifts of the heart reach across the planet with unprecedented speed thanks to technology – to lift and give hope to victims of war.
Thank you, donors, for your kind hearts!
Recipients often state “they couldn’t have survived without us”, or that “they can’t believe such people exist” (our donors).
Please share this message with friends, family, co-workers, or online. Or consider becoming a monthly donor or set up a fundraiser. Every iterative dollar forges the lifeblood of our charity, which gives life to those in despair.
They express their deepest gratitude.
Please visit our page on CanadaHelps using the “Donate” button on this site.
Thank you from S.O.S. Ukraine and grateful recipients in Ukraine.
Carollyne Bowyer
Founder, S.O.S. Ukraine
With a BSc. (Honors) in Psychology, Carollyne has had a career in social services. In addition to managing S.O.S. Ukraine, she’s a grandma of 14, an avid gardener, children’s music producer and published novelist (under a pen name).
Her Ukrainian ancestors sacrificed all for their posterity–friends, family, language, climate, homes, gardens, and more.
A “daughter of the soil” who wanted to discover her roots, Carollyne travelled to their ancestral homeland on three occasions.
Acutely aware of her blessings of birth in Canada, she expresses her gratitude by giving back. She is the founder and C.E.O. of S.O.S. Ukraine.
Halyna Korol
Overseas Administrator
Halyna Korol is a school teacher in western Ukraine who is well-loved by her students. She sees the needs of the most impoverished within her classroom.
Her highly respected family of teachers has lived in the area for many generations.
Halyna is hard-working, dedicated, honest, and fluent in English. Halyna was taught by her parents that if she only had “one piece of bread, she must also share it with others”. Since 1995, Halyna and her husband have dependably assisted the charity with the delivery of goods, translations and acted as reliable advisors on local customs and conventions.
Kateryna Minakova, PhD.
Project Consultant
Kateryna started her social activism in 2008 when she organized the first museum exhibition in Ukraine for blind and visually impaired people. After the war in 2014, she worked at the Center for International Grant writing, aiming to develop and provide organizational guidance to create and support projects in priority areas of regional development. Kateryna helped local NGO’s develop projects in education, science, and culture. She developed and administered the project “Travelling Theater” to help refugee children integrate into local communities. After the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, Kateryna volunteered in projects for refugees, soldiers, and NGO’s.
Ihor and Uliana Kovalova
Western Ukraine Procurement & Distribution
Ihor and Uliana Kovalova live in Chernivtsi, Ukraine. On behalf of S.O.S. Ukraine, they manage the acquisition and delivery of food, medicine, hygiene items and footwear for a boarding house with over 240 internally displaced people, as well as many seniors living in isolation. Both graduated from Yu. Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University: Ihor studied at the Faculty of Law, and Uliana – at the Pedagogical Faculty. Now Igor works at a furniture factory, and Uliana teaches at a music school.
Donna Reimchen
Fundraiser
Donna lives in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, where she owns an established art gallery. She first came to northern Canada during an engineering co-op job that took her out into the beauty of the vast Yukon landscapes. In addition to being an entrepreneur, Donna is active as a flautist in the local music community.
Donna has served as the treasurer of the Ukrainian Canadian Association of Yukon, supported organizations working in Ukraine, and is now privileged to join S.O.S. Ukraine. In summer 2023, she travelled to south-central and western Ukraine on a humanitarian mission, delivering donated antibiotics, working with hospital directors to procure ICU equipment, and meeting the leaders of a local charitable foundation that supports soldiers. This trip to Ukraine was transformational for Donna and continues to inspire her to support Ukrainians in their quest for freedom.