Familiar Local Faces Seek To Boost Ukraine Support

    Many area residents will remember the former Nicky D’s restaurant in Umatilla. Some may even know that the restaurant’s co-owner, Stephanie DiAngelis, is of Ukrainian descent. As that country continues to defend itself from a Russian invasion and its people struggle under the weight of the onslaught, Stephanie and her husband, Nick, have created a way for locals to support the struggling nation and its people.
    The Nicky and Stephanie DiAngelis Ukrainian Freedom Fund is now active at United Southern Bank, with donations accepted at any branch. The donations will be forwarded to the Ukrainian Project, a registered 501(c)3 organization based in Central Florida. The Ukrainian Project is working to supply the country with the needed supplies it needs for its people to survive and defend themselves.
    “They need so much,” Stephanie said this week when the duo announced the project. “Medical supplies, technology. Everything.”
    Stephanie has many relatives in Ukraine, and reports that conditions in the country continue to deteriorate, but that the majority of residents want to stay in their homeland rather than seek safety across a border.
    “They don’t want to leave. I have a cousin southeast of Kiev - she is feeding the men who are in the city.”
    The DiAngelis’ Ukrainian church, in Apopka, has been operating a variety of donation programs, and has actually had to stop accepting items like clothing and other physical items.
    “It cost so much to ship things over,” said Nicky. That’s why they are hoping the donation program, which will give resources to the Ukrainian Project, will allow for money to be wired into Europe to purchase items closer to their areas of need, and increase how far each dollar goes.
    The couple selected the Ukrainian Project as the recipient of any donated funds due to the fact that the organization is known to be a ‘legitimate’ operator in an arena where the backgrounds of some organizations is not known.
    For anyone who can’t get to a USB branch to make a donation, the Ukrainian Project accepts cash donations at its website, www.ukrainianfestivalorlando.org.