Canadian mother risks life delivering humanitarian aid to Ukraine

A Canadian mother of three is risking her life delivering humanitarian aid to the frontlines of the war in Ukraine.

April Hugget has no previous connection to the country, and no experience doing this type of work but the heart-breaking images of last year’s massacre in Bucha moved her to risk it all to try and help.

“When Bucha happened, I cried for three days and it was like three weeks of not being able to eat or sleep, and I just, I couldn’t get it out of my mind,” Hugget said.

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Haunted by the images of dead bodies in the streets of Bucha last spring, B.C. native April Huggett started her fundraising with a garage sale in September where she raised $736. Hugget also started collecting pop bottles to raise money.

She says she raised several thousand for humanitarian supplies but felt she could do more if she went to Ukraine herself, “I didn’t tell my family, I was forbidden to go to Ukraine but I just, I had to come, you know, these people they needed help.”

Despite not speaking Ukrainian or Russian, she flew to Europe, catching a ride across the border on December 3rd, and connecting with like-minded people who helped her use the money she raised to buy food and humanitarian aid in Kyiv and get it to the incredibly dangerous eastern front.

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“People don’t go there and I understand why. People say it’s bravery, maybe I’m a little crazy, I don’t know. I don’t really think about risking my life, I just, I think about the people at the front and if I don’t go then they might not get.”

She ended up getting an apartment in Kharkiv and was gifted a vehicle. Huggett now spends her days driving on her own to Kyiv to purchase aid, then driving it back to Kharkiv and onwards to the front. Where she says much of her aid goes to seniors who are unable to leave their homes.

“People are crying in Bakhmut, we love Canada, we love Canada, and tears are streaming down their face. They feel forgotten but when I show up, Canada showed up, to me, it’s important that I offer that hope,” Hugget said.

That hope is also being offered by another Canadian mother passionate about helping Ukraine in a different way, at the World Economic Forum where she attended a panel with Ukraine’s first lady.

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For a fifth time, Katherine Vellinga the founder of Oakville-based, but Ukrainian-made Zirkova vodka lent her business acumen to Ukraine house in Davos Switzerland, aimed at convincing global leaders to do more to help Ukraine.

“It’s really around how can we help on the economic front. The economy and people’s salaries are funding half of the country’s needs right now,” Vellinga said.

All the profits from Zirkova’s Unity brand vodka are being donated to Ukraine.

If you would like to support either of these women in their work, Zirkova Unity Vodka can be purchased at the LCBO and Hugget accepts donations through the Buy Me a Coffee fundraising website under DefactoHumanity.

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