As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, organizers of a benefit at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains hope to reignite public awareness of the ongoing conflict — and to raise funds for humanitarian aid — through an evening of poetry, performance, and the human voice.
The war, sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 civilians and left at least 18,500 injured, according to the United Nations. Military casualties are estimated to be around 1.4 million killed or injured Russian and Ukrainian soldiers according to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Set for Sunday, July 27 at 5 p.m., Words to America From Ukraine will gather Hudson Valley residents for an evening of translated wartime poetry, traditional Ukrainian folk music, and readings by acclaimed performers. All proceeds will go to Razom for Ukraine, a nonprofit focused on humanitarian aid, including programs supporting displaced and kidnapped children.
“We feel that the world is forgetting very quickly,” said lead organizer Leevi Ernits, an Estonian immigrant who founded the benefit with her husband, Mark Laugus. “Not only the war in Ukraine, but floods, wildfires — anything. People do not pay attention to anything anymore.”
This is the second time Ernits has helped organize a Ukraine-focused benefit at Stissing Center. The first, held two years ago, raised $120,000. This year, the goal is $50,000 — a figure Ernits says is more modest but still meaningful. She and her husband, who works as an executive at GlobalFoundries, co-founded the nonprofit Words to America From Ukraine to sustain their efforts.
“I am Estonian, and my husband is a first-generation American Estonian,” Ernits said. “So we greatly feel for Ukraine.”
Rather than focus solely on military or political commentary, the event will center on cultural expression: poems written by contemporary Ukrainian writers during wartime, read aloud by actors and authors.
“It’s almost more about raising awareness,” Ernits said. “We chose a challenging theme — words from Ukraine to America — because poetry is something that connects different souls. We would like to raise awareness in people who still live comfortable lives, that nothing can be taken for granted. Not democracy, not freedom.”
The evening begins with a cocktail hour featuring Ukrainian-inspired hors d’oeuvres and drinks, followed by performances and readings. Reciters include Romain Frugé, a Broadway actor best known for originating the role of Ethan Girard in The Full Monty; poet Mike Topp, whose recent collaborations include work with artist Raymond Pettibon; and Ernits herself, who has performed poetry throughout her life, both in Estonia and the U.S.
Musical performance will be led by the Ukrainian Village Voices, a New York-based vocal ensemble known for their deeply rooted interpretations of Ukrainian folk songs. “They have such an authentic voice,” Ernits said. “It brings the humanity into the room.”
Guest speakers will include Jed Sunden, a Ukrainian-American media entrepreneur who founded the Kyiv Post and now directs the American Ukraine PAC, and Maria Genkin, a board member of Razom who helped raise more than $78 million in 2022 alone. She will speak about Razom’s mission and share stories of the children helped by its programs.
Among Razom’s most pressing initiatives is locating and aiding the estimated 20,000 children forcibly deported from Ukraine to Russia since the war began — a subject that Ernits says is painful but essential to confront.
“There are children who have been kidnapped. Nobody knows where they are, what is happening to them,” she said. “And many others have been injured — physically and mentally. Maria will talk more about this. It’s hard, but it needs to be known.”
The event will also feature a live auction of donated items, including artwork by local and Ukrainian artists, dinners from area restaurants, and other unique experiences. Bidding proceeds will go entirely to Razom.
Asked whether she believes the war in Ukraine has become a partisan issue in the U.S., Ernits demurred. “We like to think it should appeal to any human who has a human heart,” she said. “Obviously, the United States is very divided, and foreign wars divide people even more. That’s one reason we focus on poetry — to step away from politics and find the human side of the disaster.”
For Ernits, whose native Estonia knows the cost of occupation, the threat of authoritarianism is not theoretical.
“It’s difficult for Americans to believe anything could happen to them, but considering what’s going on — it could,” she said. “We live in scary times. We can’t be so lazy as a society that we cannot pay attention to a few lines of poetry — to something deeper.”
Words to America From Ukraine will take place Sunday, July 27 at 5 p.m. at Stissing Center, located at 2950 Church St. in Pine Plains. Tickets and more information are available at www.wordsfromukraine.org