With an estimated 40 percent of the country's ice rinks destroyed or damaged by the Russia attack, the Ukrainian Hockey Dream Charity Fund has been established to help rebuild the country's hockey infrastructure on behalf of the children once the invasion is over.
The fund's goal is to raise $10 million to "create a hockey center in Ukraine for children who have lost the opportunity to play, to study, to develop, to just be safe and live in their hometowns," said Maria Voitko, the fund's general manager.
Donations can be made at saveukrainianhockeydream.org.
"It was only last year that thousands of young Ukrainian hockey players were dreaming, planning, hoping and just living a happy life," Georgy Zubko, president of the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine and director of the fund, said in a video. "Now they are spending their nights in bomb shelters, hearing sirens and explosions. … Some of them have lost their homes.
Tweet from @NHL: The Ukrainian Hockey Dream charity fund is striving toward their mission to create a road map of the future for Ukrainian children, where hockey provides opportunities and diverse life experiences. pic.twitter.com/QxQ06uEyFr
"We have established a fund that will make sure that the dreams of our young players come true. With these kids we have already had our victories. We were making progress. The best hockey players were shortlisted for the NHL Draft. We were building facilities for them. We had a project of big construction and development all over the country. We were leading these kids to the future."
The hockey world is reaching out to help children and the sport in Ukraine. The Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine, with the support of the International Ice Hockey Federation and international partners, were able to relocate 1,000 children and their mothers abroad. A portion of the ticket sales from the 2022 IIHF World Championship went to ice hockey efforts in Ukraine.
The NHL Players' Association, with the support of the IIHF, said it is donating $100,000 worth of hockey equipment through its Goals & Dreams Fund to help Ukrainian youth to continue to play. The equipment is being distributed to displaced kids between 6 and 16 years old who now are living in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Switzerland.
But more help is needed to help preserve and grow hockey on the ground for the children in Ukraine, according to Yuri Kirichenko, the fund's sports program manager.
