Attempt To Focus - Rebuilding Ukraine

Please join us in our authentic way to raise money for Ukraine.

On Friday, February 24, 2023 - the first anniversary of the second phase of the Russian Federation’s illegal invasion of the democratic nation of Ukraine, a coalition of volunteers will come together in San Francisco to raise funds for a variety of critical needs in the country through an artistic performance. Attempt To Focus is a site-specific performance series that uses meditation, stillness, intention in thought, and mindfulness to manifest a goal.

The idea of the series is inspired from the belief that one succeeds in one’s head many times over before overcoming a challenge. In Attempt To Focus - Rebuilding Ukraine, we envision a future where Ukraine wins, there’s peace, and Ukraine has everything it needs to build infrastructure better and greener than it had before. We envision a Ukraine where the Ukrainian people have everything they need to heal and feel safe, again.

The 501(c)3 non-profit Hromada will be both a recipient of funds and a fiscal sponsor. This will allow us to support them while also infusing funds into multiple small non-profits doing great work. Hromada is a well-established non-profit that has raised over $450,000 for Ukraine. You can see every donation and project they've funded on their website at: www.https://hromada.us/ . We are honored to be partnered with them and truly believe in their work. Hromada will get 20% of the funds raised.

Support Ukraine With Us is a non-profit that one of our organizers started specifically to help Ukraine since the most recent Russian invasion. The founders are all from Ukraine living in the United States. They have each jumped into efforts to provide for their country through Support Ukraine With Us. You can visit their website as https://www.supportukrainewithus.com . Support Ukraine With Us will receive 80% of the funds raised, 20% which they will use for their efforts and 60% which will be distributed to the next non-profit.

The remaining funds will be distributed to the NGO By the Call of the Heart (Kosiv, Ukraine) and the NGO Sustainable Development Landmarks (Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine). The Rehabilitation Center With Love in the Heart, founded by the NGO By the Call of the Heart, helps Ukrainian veterans and their families. Since June 2015, more than 2000 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and members of their families have received physical and psychological rehabilitation there. The NGO Sustainable Development Landmarks implements various psychological and dentistry-related rehabilitation projects on the ground in Ukraine.

Who We Are: The Organizers

Igor Tregub: is a Senior Policy Advisor at California Solar and Storage Association. He's a Ukrainian living in Berkeley who has raised over $75,000 for Ukrainian relief, resistance, and resettlement efforts. A personal narrative on his efforts on the front lines of saving his homeland, Ukraine, and democracy there can be found here: http://drive.google.com/file/d/14oj5ug97XVrv9YetxmaQqiBMW78ShHxh/view

Nataliia Goshylyk, Ph.D., is the Lecturer in Ukrainian at UC Berkeley, and the Fulbright Visiting Professor at Berkeley Language Center in 2021-2022. Nataliia is a Ukrainian, working to amplify the voice of Ukrainians in the USA through her NGO “Centre for Communication Research” and her position as the Associate Professor at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. Throughout the last year, her fundraising efforts have been centered around institutional and individual initiatives in the Bay Area, including projects “Ukrainian History on Stage”, “Ukraine Matters”, and “Ukrainian Club of Berkeley”.

Volodymyr Goshylyk, Ph.D., is the Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley, the Associate Professor at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University (Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine), and the Director of the NGO “Sustainable Development Landmarks” implementing various educational and rehabilitation projects on the ground in Ukraine. He is the convenor of three International Smart Conferences on Sustainable Development (SEVIC, SDL, and SF), and the curator of the “Ukraine Matters” Initiative aiming at fighting the Kremlin’s propaganda, debunking the myths about Ukraine, and proving that it is on the same page with the whole civilized world and does matter much.

Max Zubkov: is the founder of the 501c3 non-profit "Support Ukraine With Us' and a math PhD student at UC Berkeley. When the war started, Max put his education on hold to create Support Ukraine With Us and concentrate on helping people full-time. Max flew to Ukraine in the summer of 2022 to optimize operations and work with volunteers on the ground. He then returned to the US in 2023 to finish his PhD and continues helping people in Ukraine. https://www.supportukrainewithus.com/

Cameron Woo: a Berkeley resident and a regular volunteer on a variety of civic projects, in this case offered up his graphic design experience to support Ukraine.

Nicky Watts: Conceptual Artist living in Hawaii (www.nickywatts.com) is the artist producing the performance element of the event. After being inspired by Igor's Ukraine fundraising efforts, and feeling like she needed to do more, she offered to collaborate with Igor to raise funds for Ukraine and this is how this performance event came to be.

Performance / Event Details:

Where: Civic Center Plaza

When: February 24th at noon

Who: Wear all white. (This did say; be prepared to get paint on them, but due to restrictions in permitting, we are no longer allowed to paint. We solved it with a better idea - we will hand sew a quilt together. Please wear white so that your clothes do not take the attention of the quilt-making, if you will be sewing.) We will have enough supplies for 30 people to make their own squares and can accommodate more with helping to sew the squares together.

What we will do:

1. We will each sit on the ground, or close to the ground, facing each other, hand sewing squares, with each person also sewing their square to another square. I will be in the center. When you sewed together your square design, you will join me (quietly) and the squares will be sewn together.

3. Our mantra will be: Ukraine is at peace, they have won the war, and they are rebuilding into a stronger Ukraine. We will envision this as we sew. We will envision that Ukraine is being sewn back together - like we are sewing the blanket. We will pray, bow, reach out - whatever is our practice to talk to the Universe or Gd. We will concentrate on a strong Ukraine.

This is a mostly silent performance. We ask that you keep to necessary communication only. There will be a sign-in table where you will be given instructions and materials. All you need is yourself and to wear white.

Won't you join us?

How to join - reach out to Nicky Watts at [email redacted].

Thank you for caring about Ukraine. Ukraine can beat this war if we all work together. Every country, non-profit and organization that can help, needs to. Every time someone speaks up against Russia, they are helping. It will take us all working together. Thank you for choosing us.