Long-established sister city connections are an opportunity to help out Ukrainians with funds and supplies
Whether you catch a few minutes of a local news segment, scan a major newspaper’s daily headlines or simply overhear a conversation while running errands, stories of devastation, hardship and turmoil emerge. But while it might seem that instances of bad always take center stage, it is in these moments that we often see the best of humanity.
Created by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s, Sister Cities International is a nonprofit that works to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation by fostering bonds between people of different communities world-wide. “I think that really solidified much of our relationship,” says Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara, who took office in 2017.
Four organizations — the City of Rockford, Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Kids Around the World and the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois—came together to develop the Brovary Relief Fund in early March. Since then, Rockford has raised over $160,000, purchased more than $50,000 worth of medicine and sent over 270,000 meals.
Cincinnati and Kharkiv—connections and friendships Both inland river cities with strong manufacturing bases, education institutions and arts organizations, Cincinnati and Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine, saw many opportunities for collaboration and became sister cities in 1989 when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union.
Over the last 33 years, these cities have connected in a host of ways, resulting in numerous friendships. For example, Cincinnati’s Jewish community helped restore Kharkiv’s synagogue, student exchanges happened regularly prior to the pandemic and an international children’s art program was hosted annually, where art by local and Ukrainian students was displayed in Cincinnati and then transferred to Kharkiv to be on exhibit in a museum, according to Herring.
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