BALTIMORE — People were hard at work Friday at the St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church preparing for the 48th Baltimore Ukrainian festival.
Father Yuriy Pylypchak told WMAR-2 News why the festival is so important.
"We would like to share and spread, who are Ukrainians? Because our identity, it's more than war, it's more than that struggle and what we have right now," Father Pylypchak said, "We really love who we are. We love our independence, our identity, our music."
Even so, the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia is always fresh in their minds.
Watch as residents prepare for the 48th Baltimore Ukrainian festival
Sabine Brooks' dad has been to Ukraine over eight times since the war started.
He takes pictures of firefighters and first responders, showing what the war has done to communities. These pictures will be displayed during the festival, along with shrapnel collected from different areas.
Sabine has also been there a handful of times, helping her dad and volunteering.
"When you're there you don't really think about it in the larger scale, you're living with everybody else. When you're in the larger cities it's a sense of normalcy except for the fact that every few hours an air alarm goes off and you have to leave whatever building you're in and find a bomb shelter," she said.
On Wednesday, President Trump said Kyiv can win all of Ukraine back from Russia.
The US has provided military, financial, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine but Sabine thinks more can be done to help.
"I feel like the United States could be providing a lot more aid. I'm very thankful for the aid the United States is providing but there is definitely a lot more that could be improved and that is also why we've started to work in DC, my dad and I, to try and influence more policy makers especially."
Since the war started, Americans have rallied behind the Ukrainian community in droves.
Father Pylypchak got emotional thinking about that support.
"It's collectively. It's not only Ukrainian people, it's also American people, it's everyone who helps us and that we continue to do."
They plan to keep looking forward.
"What is important is the action, action that really brings some changes. And we are people of hope and that is really what keeps us fighting, what keeps us going, and also what keeps us bringing our identity to the world every time."
The Ukrainian festival starts at noon on Saturday and runs through the weekend.
