Ukraine benefit dinner raises $6,000

People in the war-ravaged area in and around Ukraine will soon be getting a special blessing from some caring citizens of Sanders County.

A benefit dinner and auction Saturday evening at the St. Williams Catholic Church in Thompson Falls raised approximately $6,000 for war victims and refugees thanks to the generosity and humanity of Montanans.

“We haven’t gotten everything counted yet, but we will be around $6,000 raised,” said one of the event’s organizers, Samie Helvey.

Helvey said between 150 and 175 people attended the benefit, with the funds going to the Youth With a Mission organization with special help from Helvey and her niece, Sharon Borodina, who is from Priest River, Idaho but is married to a Ukrainian and has spent 25 years in the now embattled area.

Donations including a load of firewood, a .45 pistol, a rifle and a butchered hog were part of the auction.

“We were hoping to be able to send enough to make a difference,” Helvey said, adding “God is good”.

“People around town handed donations to us,” she said. “It was cool”.

Helvey said the money will be used to purchase whatever is needed. Members of the YWAM group are currently working in Poland to help take care of the millions of refugees that have fled the fighting in Ukraine.

The evening also featured a Mexican dinner for those who wished to donate.