The Rosedale Valley String Orchestra is putting on a 'Unite for Ukraine' concert on Saturday, April 30th in order to fundraise for a Ukrainian family who will soon be calling Lacombe home.  

Assistant Director with the orchestra, Heidi Baumbach was working in Poland providing aid to families and orphans from Ukraine. She provided assistance to one large family who asked if they might be able to live in Canada. Now, the orchestra is fundraising for the family.  

“One thing led to another there's actually 14 people in the whole family group, but four people are still in Ukraine and not able to leave anytime soon. We have nine or ten coming and they will be here soon,” explained Naomi Delafield, Conductor for the Rosedale Valley String Orchestra. 

Delafield says the concert is free to attend but hopes people come with something to donate towards the family. All money fundraised will be going into the bank account that has been started in their honour. 

“Heidi has been rallying all of her connections and support. We've already raised quite a good amount of funds for these people. Basically, we have the funds in place for their plane tickets. We're just waiting for them to get their passports back from being approved. At the moment, we're raising funds for the remaining family members for when they're able to come here and also a vehicle [for them],” explained Delafield. 

This is the Rosedale Valley String Orchestra’s 20th season in Lacombe and they have a goal of ensuring that young musicians aged 8-18 get an orchestral experience. The orchestra typically also fundraises with A Better World. 

“For years and years, we've been raising funds for building wells for communities in Africa that don't have access to water, or raising funds for orphanages, or schools and different places. This time we can't work through A Better World because they're not licensed to deal with crisis. We're doing this independently, but every year we're working on different projects,” said Delafield. 

In honour of their 20th season in the community, you can also expect to see some of the orchestra’s alumni at the event on Saturday as well as other events this year. 

In addition to the classical music you can expect from the Rosedale Valley String Orchestra such as Bach, Mozart, and several other notable musicians, you can also bid on silent auction art items from local artists based in Alberta. 

Overall, Delafield has been pleased to see the community come together in support of the family. 

“Ukraine and their sudden emergency and their need has caused the rest of us put aside our petty squabbles and work together on something so meaningful and so needed right now. I just hope that we can really approach our new neighbors with a sense of compassion and see this as a chance to work together as a community to welcome these people. We have so many families arriving at the moment.” 

The concert will be held at St. Andrews United Church in Lacombe on Saturday April, 30th. The silent auction will begin at 6:00 PM and the concert will begin at 7:00 PM.