Scott A. Brinton | The Long Island Advocate | March 30, 2022
Featured image: Volunteers from across the Long Island Ukrainian community gathered at St. Vladimir’s Parish Center in Uniondale over the weekend to make varenyky — potato-and-cheese dumplings — as a fundraiser for Ukrainian relief. // Photo by Scott Brinton/Long Island Advocate
Sautéing onion scented the air in the ring-shaped main hall of St. Vladimir’s Parish Center in Uniondale last Sunday as a frenetic swirl of people moved about carrying trays full of varenyky — potato-and-cheese dumplings.
The event, one part of a three-day fundraiser for Ukraine relief, brought together volunteers from across Long Island’s Ukrainian community and beyond. The varenyky (pronounced vah-rEH-nee-key) were sold in small aluminum trays, 12 to a pack, with the goal of raising $10,000, said Halyna Fenchenko, head of the Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine, 42nd Branch, on Long Island.
Scott Brinton is a special assistant professor of journalism at Hofstra, and editor and adviser to The Long Island Advocate.