Students at Fort la Reine School in Portage la Prairie started working together on a fundraiser for Ukraine. 

It all began when Grade 5 student Cassandra thought of the idea, and spread it around. Soon, about 25 other students got involved.

"It's about raising money to help the Ukraine and the kids because not a lot of people left the Ukraine. They didn't think it (the war) would probably happen," says Cassandra. "We're selling bracelets. We're doing rubber band ones -- the looms. We're doing the beads and we're doing the yarn kind. The reason why I want to do this is because I saw other people doing it on the news and Tik Tok. I had seen this one girl on Tik Tok and she was from the Ukraine. She had to leave her home, and I feel bad for her. And I'm like, 'What are we gonna do?' And then I found out on the news that these kids were selling bracelets. I'm like, 'Wow,' this gave me an idea. So, why not ask people if they wanna join? That's when I asked Violet. She said yeah."

Violet says she's glad to be involved.

"It feels good," says Violet. "It feels good to be nice and helpful. We do different colours than just yellow and blue because sometimes people don't just want yellow and blue. They might want different colours."

Students making braceletsStudents making bracelets

Violet says she was already thinking of doing something but didn't know what.

"Then we asked Mrs. Mosek-Mattice," continues Cassandra. "We talked to her about it and she said that the school would provide stuff for us to make them. That's when me and Violet said it would be fun, and let's try to reach our goal to get the money."

The girls brought the idea to their teacher, Mrs. Mosek-Mattice, who phoned around town and got into contact with a few people involved in the churches. She was able to acquire some contacts to help them send the money to an orphanage in Ukraine. They're hoping to later personally stay in touch with the children and exchange photos.

Their goal is to make 200 bracelets and necklaces.

"Our family members have bought some. We've sold them, and we've got donations from them," says Violet.  

A bracelet is given for a minimum donation of $2.00 to students and their families, alone, at this point. They may open it up and sell to the public in the future, but not just yet.

"I do hope we sell a lot because, technically, they really need the money. They are in war and they need help," adds Violet.