As an alternative of a Santa go well with, Ray Taheri opts for a pink jacket as he packs toys for the youngsters of Ukraine that he’ll ship in time for Christmas.
Ukrainians have fun Japanese Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7. Taheri will land within the Ukraine on Christmas Eve then make his option to Moldova after which Romania to ship the 250 items he has collected over the yr.
“The spirit of Christmas is to like, to care, to share and to really feel near your fellow human being despite the fact that you haven’t seen them,” Taheri stated.
Taheri is a professor within the engineering division on the College of British Columbia, Okanagan campus. In preparation for his journey, a few of his college students made dragons within the colors of the Ukrainian flag with 3D printers to offer out.
Get breaking Nationwide information
For information impacting Canada and world wide, join breaking information alerts delivered on to you after they occur.
“I wish to give them to varsities, not people and inform them every time they really feel unhappy they’ll maintain this and see that somebody custom-made this for you with a number of love,” Taheri stated.
Taheri can’t finest Saint Nick, so as an alternative of creating the deliveries in a single night time, he shall be taking two weeks to ship the toys he collected with the assistance of his two younger daughters.
He’ll be visiting among the colleges and maker-spaces he helped on his final yr in honour of his late buddy, Peter Nicu.
“I went there, we had a workforce there and we constructed 5 maker areas. We revamped some academic buildings, we rebuilt a church on the border which was broken,” Taheri stated.
Taheri is obsessed with serving to others and because the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, he felt known as to do one thing.
“It’s our responsibility as an engineer to be part of the answer, or we’re part of the issue,” Taheri stated.
With one hockey bag packed and another to go, Taheri is also fundraising to assist households as they proceed to navigate life below hearth.
© 2025 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
Source link