Mama's Market raises funds for war-torn Ukraine

THE Ukrainian Women’s Association of Geelong is gearing up for its fourth annual Mother’s Day market, with the funds raised to support women and children devastated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Mama’s Market will be held at the Ukrainian Community Hall in Pakington Street between 10am and 3pm on May 10.

A variety of flowers, traditional Ukrainian food and goods, bric-a-brac and more will be on offer, and the event’s silent auction is already accepting bids – with a seven-night stay in the Snowy Mountains among the prizes up for grabs.

Market coordinator Maria Lubczenko said a key goal of the market was to maintain awareness of the ongoing conflict, noting that as the war approached its fourth year, people were naturally inclined to “tune out”.

“It really is devasting… and the casualties are just accumulating and accumulating,” she said.

Members of the Ukrainian Women’s Association Geelong at the Ukrainian Community Hall in Pakington Street, where the market will be held on May 10.

The Mama’s Market has raised more than $100,000 since its inception in 2022 and has helped to fund an X-ray machine for a hospital in Zaporizhia, an industrial washing machine for a girls’ home, and the delivery of infant snow jumpsuits to those in need.

“There’s so many displaced people, not even overseas, but within their own country, where the occupied areas are,” Ms Lubczenko said.

“Those people need a lot of support. Just a little bit helps.

“You don’t have to spend a lot, but just even being here is of great support. It gives us a really good lift to our morale to know that the non-Ukrainian community can also enjoy what we have.”

Tetinaa Neduzha is among the more than 30 Ukrainian refugees to settle in Geelong after fleeing the war.

Mama’s Market coordinators Maria Lubczenko and Valya Bazalicki with Tetinaa Neduzha.

Before arriving in Australia in 2022 and in their efforts to escape the conflict, she and her family were forced to live for a time in a school gym.

But despite the challenges, she said she had found a supportive community in Geelong and had secured a “lovely job” like the one she had in Ukraine.

Fellow market coordinator Valya Bazalicki said about 2,000 people were expected to attend next month’s event and praised the ongoing generosity of the local community.

“We just have to be brave like [President Volodymyr] Zelensky and we just have to ask again. It’s not for us, it’s for Ukraine,” she said.

Entry is by gold coin donation.

To enter the silent auction, head to go.rallyup.com/mamasmarket2025