When Russia launched its attack on Ukraine a month ago, Maritime board game company "Vesuvius Media" knew it had to help – and exactly who it would help.
Before the war began, the company had contracted a Ukrainian entrepreneur to distribute one of their most popular board games, “Catapult Feud,” in his own country.
Once the shelling began in Ukraine’s capital, the couple behind "Vesuvius Media," Konstantinos Manos and Stephani Angelopolous, decided to start a Kickstarter campaign to help Andrii Pertsov.
Pertsov owns “Fun Games Shop” in Kyiv, Ukraine - a business he had to abandon as he fled with his partner and dog the day after the war began.
He’s now near Lviv staying with a friend's relative.
In a Skype call with CTV News, Pertsov recalls the night of Feb. 23, when he heard Russia might invade his country.
“We decided to pack our stuff, just in case,” he says. He then remembers being woken up by a friend around 4 a.m. the next morning and learning the news the attack had begun.
“When you're half-sleeping and you're hearing these words, you're not only frightened, but it’s also terrifying I can say,” says Pertsov.
Pertsov's warehouse in Kyiv has been damaged by shelling but still stands. Its basement is now being used by Ukrainians as a bomb shelter.
“The repercussions of this incident are going to be felt around the globe,” says Manos, the CEO of "Vesuvius Media."
“There are so many different ways, and everybody has a different outlet. Everybody can do something,” adds Manos.
“We are so lucky to be in Canada, and that's why we want to help in any way we can,” says Angelopoulos.
Supporters of the campaign can buy the Ukrainian edition of the game for themselves or donate one to a child or refugee affected by the conflict.
So far, the initiative has raised close to $19,000.
“The board game community, it's a tight knit community,” says Angelopoulos. “And so now we're working with them as well to try to find the best charity to donate the games, maybe at the refugee camps in Poland. So, we're working out all those details now.”
“Almost all the work was made by them, and we are very thankful for that,” says Pertsov.
The initiative is one of the many taken on by Maritimers over the past month to try to help Ukrainians caught in the conflict.
From perogy sales to concerts, those efforts have raised a lot of funds for humanitarian help.
The Canadian Red Cross campaign, for example, reached $119 million in donations as of March 21.
Dalhousie University Associate Professor Robert Huish, who studies international development and global conflicts, says getting aid to those who need it is key to helping the nation weather what's to come.
“We now have a global humanitarian crisis, with now some five-million Ukrainians who are now refugees,” says Huish.
“And next month will not be the final month of this conflict. This is going to be now a deeply ingrained global challenge.”
It’s a challenge that won't end when the fighting does - whenever that may be.
“We don't know when this hell ends, but the money from this campaign, we will use to rebuild our business,” says Pertsov. “I think that we will definitely have hard times in the future.”
