By Khalida Sarwari
Nora Mason was 2 years old when the Germans captured her family on their way out of Lviv, Ukraine, in the fall of 1943 and sent them to slave labor camps in Germany.
After the war ended and they were liberated by the French army, they were put in a displaced persons camp where she spent half of her childhood. The other half was spent learning a whole new way of life in the United States. This formative experience is what led Mason down a philanthropic path here in Saratoga.
Every few weeks, Mason sends a box to Ukraine filled with items such as blankets, warm clothes, coffee and candy, depending on the season or the needs of the people there. Last year alone, she sent over 55 boxes. Some of the recipients email her from time to time to express their gratitude.
She recalls one man who received boxes on Dec. 18 last year, the day Ukrainians celebrate Christmas, and told her: “We’re all grown men, but when these boxes arrived we were like children.”
“We are helping the people that are in need because of the war,” Mason said. “We’re not on the front page anymore but nothing’s changed. There’s still poverty, there’s still hunger.”
By “we,” Mason means the Northern California chapter of the Ukrainian Women’s League of America, a charitable organization that seeks to unite women of Ukrainian descent and those affiliated with the Ukrainian community. A past president, Mason now serves as a member who’s very involved in the group’s scholastic and humanitarian efforts.
While past efforts focused mostly on sponsoring orphans, supporting the needy and elderly and awarding scholarships to students, the group now also sends aid to refugees in the form of basic necessities and money. It’s important now more than ever, Mason said, with the war against Russia still ongoing.
The conflict revolves around Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. In February 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin attempted to annex Crimea. After Russian troops entered Crimea, a referendum was held revealing that a large majority of the residents wanted to be a part of Russia. Russia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Crimea signed a treaty of accession, but the UN general assembly deemed the referendum invalid. At the same time, civil unrest broke out in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“What happened was that Ukrainians were affected hugely because the towns of Donetsk and Luhansk were wiped out,” said Mason. “They were bombarded; they were destroyed. People escaped to western Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has vowed to continue a military campaign to end the armed insurgency and return Crimea to Ukrainian sovereignty. Throughout all of this, thousands–especially men–have perished, leaving families broken and destitute.
A Ukrainian refugee herself, Mason said she can relate to the feeling of having nothing. Her own parents had to defy all sorts of odds to come to the U.S. in 1950 and start a new life in Philadelphia before moving to California and eventually Saratoga 26 years ago.
Today, Mason teaches private piano lessons out of her home in Saratoga, a job she’s held for the past 13 years after working for three decades in human resources. She is planning a trip to Ukraine in the fall with her husband, a technical writer. It will be her first trip there in 10 years.
In the meantime, she’s going to continue shipping relief boxes to her beloved homeland every two weeks.
“I feel very strongly about giving,” she said. “I know that there are a million organizations chasing a lonely dollar. I’m sure there are other places [in need], but I don’t know them. I just know what I do, and I care deeply because it’s my country.”
She added, “All of a sudden I see I need help, and I’m turning to the larger community and saying this is what I do and we need help.”
To donate clothing or blankets to Mason’s cause, email her at noramason22@gmail.com. The clothes must be in good condition but can be any size and for either gender. She is also accepting donations at P.O. Box 3256, Saratoga, CA 95070.
