Temerty Foundation donates $10 Million to continue life-changing programs for vulnerable children and veterans in Ukraine

The Canadian charity Help Us Help (HUH) is excited to announce that the Temerty Foundation, established by James and Louise Temerty, has donated $10 million to establish the Temerty Endowment Fund, a leadership gift of the Silver Lining Campaign. The Endowment will provide funds for administering humanitarian aid, anti-human trafficking initiatives, educational projects, mental health supports and life-skills development workshops delivered primarily to children in Ukraine.

Children who grow up in residential institutions or orphanages in Ukraine are more likely to end up being human-trafficked or incarcerated than those raised in a traditional family setting. Help Us Help provides these vulnerable children with a sense of community and family within the organization.

“We have long supported Help Us Help and the meaningful work that they do,” said Leah Temerty-Lord, Temerty Foundation Managing Director. “It is our hope that this gift will allow the organization to continue helping vulnerable populations in Ukraine for years to come.”

HUH has helped over 10,000 children from dozens of cities across Ukraine at their Summer and Winter Camps, over 400 children have benefitted from the Scholarship Program and over 500 veterans and their families have received support from the organization. This generous endowment will allow the organization to increase its impact and the number of individuals helped. “The generosity of the Temerty Family is awe-inspiring,” said Dr. Marie Bountrogianni, HUH Chair. “On behalf of the Help Us Help Board of Directors, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the Temerty Foundation for this incredible gift that will help so many at-risk families and individuals who have nowhere else to turn for support and assistance.”

Since 1993, HUH has delivered more than $25 million dollars in charitable aid to thousands of children and veterans directly and in cooperation with local organizations. “This gift is an exciting milestone for Help Us Help and is the start of a new era”, said Ruslana Wrzesnewskyj, HUH Founder and Honorary Chair. “It will afford the organization the opportunity to have an even further reach and help more vulnerable people”.

In honour of Ruslana Wrzesnewskyj’s years of dedication to the children of Ukraine, the Temerty Foundation is pleased to highlight that, as part of their donation, the HUH Summer Camp Program will now be known as: Ruslana’s Summer Camp.

Prominent Ukrainian duo Mark and Marichka Marczyk, whose Balaklava Blues, is releasing their most recent music video for “Green”, a track featured on their debut album Fly. The video features images of activities from the newly named Ruslana’s Summer Camp, and stars Vova and his younger friend Andriy, an orphan who has directly benefited from HUH programming and is a Temerty Scholarship Fund recipient.

Founded in 1993, Help Us Help is a federally registered Canadian charitable organization, focused on humanitarian aid and educational projects in Ukraine and in Canada. The organization has delivered more than $25 million dollars in charitable aid to thousands of children and veterans directly and in cooperation with local organizations. Thanks to the support of our community, donors, and hundreds of volunteers, we have empowered tens of thousands of children and veterans in Ukraine through our much-needed educational and self-improvement programs and direct humanitarian aid.

Help Us Help has three marquee programs that are supplemented on an “as-needed” basis by other initiatives. These marquee programs include: summer and winter camps that provide children living in residential institutions with the opportunity to learn valuable life skills not taught in institutions; a scholarship program that provides financial and moral support to young adults who graduate from residential institutions and seek a post-secondary education; and the veteran program that provides reorientation, adaptation, and reintegration programs as well as psychological support and legal services for Ukrainian conflict-affected veterans and their families.

Founded by James and Louise Temerty in 1997, the Temerty Foundation has had health care as one of its primary charitable focuses since its inception. Past activities include establishing the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Louise Temerty Breast Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, the Temerty Foundation RGNEF Research Fund for neurodegenerative disease at Western University and the world’s first international telesimulation centre in medical education at the University Health Network.

Additionally, the Temerty Foundation and family have supported the Royal Ontario Museum, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Canadian Red Cross, the Hospital for Sick Children, North York General Hospital, the Michener Institute and the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. James was instrumental in launching the Kyiv Mohyla Business School and also founded the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter Initiative, a multinational project that aims to build a sound foundation for future interaction among Ukrainians and Jews.

James C. Temerty, C.M., was the founding chairman of Northland Power Inc.. Northland Power is an independent power producing company with a focus on clean and green energy. An entrepreneur with over 40 years of business experience, Temerty was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2008 and was named Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010 for Canada.

Balaklava Blues is the brainchild of Mark and Marichka Marczyk, creators of the multi-award winning guerrilla-folk-opera Counting Sheep and leaders of the mighty Lemon Bucket Orkestra – Canada’s notorious 13 piece balkan-party-punk-massive. Falling somewhere between a traditional song cycle and a full blown multimedia techno show, the duo fuses Ukrainian polyphony and other folk traditions with EDM, trap, dub step, and more as a launching pad to explore the seemingly never-ending blues that have long emanated from the Ukrainian steppe.