Familiar faces in new places

In recent weeks we've made a few announcements about streamlining our teller services. Teller services on Bloor St. have been amalgamated at our Armadale branch (the Durie branch continues to house non-teller services such as lending and wealth management). We've also amalgamated our operations in Mississauga at our Cawthra location.

Of course, this has left lots of members wondering where their favourite service reps and lenders will be located. So we are posting details here as they become available.

Effective July 4, 2011

Vira Dolnitska and Anna Wasylyk

have transferred to the Mississauga (Cawthra) Branch

3635 Cawthra Rd., Mississauga

905-272-0468

Zoriana Palchynska

has transferred to Etobicoke Branch

225 The East Mall, Etobicoke

416-233-1254

Anna Lysko and Olena Alekseyeva
have transferred to Bloor Branch (Armadale)
2397 Bloor St. West
416-762-6961

Ludmila Jigota
has transfered to St. Demetrius Branch
135 La Rose Avenue
416-246-1651

Effective July 18, 2011

Svitlana Mazepa 

will take on the role of Acting Branch Manager at Etobicoke Branch
225 The East Mall, Etobicoke

416-233-1254 x225

Vira, Anna W., Zoriana, Anna L., Olena, Ludmila and Svitlana are eagerly looking forward to seeing you at their new locations!

Keep checking back here as we will be making further announcements shortly. You can read more about our service changes in our Summer Newsletter.

Prize winners and Member Appreciation Day sum up

Last Friday we held our first Member Appreciation Day at the Bloor West (Armadale) branch. The day featured light snacks (many of which were generously donated by local businesses - sweets by Anna's Bakery, Coffee by Coffee Tree and chips and dip by Max's Market). The day was quite a success with many members arriving to be pleasantly surprised by the snacks and thank you gifts on offer.

UCU CEO Taras Pidzamecky speaks to
Jurij Klufas of Kontakt TV on the morning
of Member Appreciation Day

 We've put a few pictures below, more are available on our Facebook page.

Some of the delicious sweets
provided by Anna's Bakery

Member Appreciation Day was an opportunity not only to thank our members for their patronage, but also to introduce many of our newest members from the So-Use branch at Durie to the teller services at  Bloor Armadale. As you may have heard, as of Monday June 20, teller services on Bloor have been consolidated at the Bloor Armadale branch. Non-teller services such as wealth management, safe deposit boxes, ATM and lending operations continue to be offered at our Bloor Durie location.

Staff pose with the Coffee Tree banner.

Prize Winners

We also provided members with the opportunity to win one of several gift baskets. Finally, we held our first draw for IUFT 2011 Tickets that day as well. The winners of these prizes are:

Gift Basket #1 (Children's books, CDs and gifts)

Winner: Olena Lezhanska

Gift Basket #2 (Україна під Булавою Богдана Хмельницького – gifted by Ukrainian Bookstore, Kyrylo Stetsenko CD, Тридцять Третій DVD + various UCU and So-Use gifts)

Winner: Tanya Bordun

Gift Basket #3 (On the Move CD – gifted by Natalia Koulinich-Kolacz, Folk – Finding our Roots DVD, Our Family Recipes – gifted by Sts. Volodymyr & Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church + various UCU gifts)

Winner: Sofiya Maksymmchuk

Two winners for two pairs of tickets each to the opening and closing ceremonies of IUFT Toronto 2011 were drawn. They were:

Larisa Pochmursky

W. Dejneka



Of course it was business as usual at the counter! Well except for the balloons!

Our next member appreciation day will be held at our Windsor Branch on July 7.

Carassauga 2011

On the weekend of June 4-5 Ukrainian Credit Union employees participated in the Carassauga Ukrainian Pavilion located at St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church on Cawthra Rd. in Mississauga. Ukrainian Credit Union is a major sponsor of the pavilion every year and always has a booth set up to greet members and build ties with the community.

This year, people visiting our booth had the opportunity to win a patio dinner set. Visitors also got some gifts including a UCU cloth tote bag.

Ukrainian Credit Union table at Carassauga.

More pictures are available on our Facebook page.

The winner of the prize by the way was Taras Sawchyk. Congratulations!

St. Joseph's Church Dome Raising

On Wednesday morning a momentous event in the building of St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Oakville took place. The main dome was raised and placed over the nave. St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church is a bilingual parish located on Trafalgar Road south of Hwy 5 (Dundas Street) in Oakville. With over 200 families, the church is "committed to living the gospel in a way that is relevant to children, youth and adults in the 21st century."

The church community is also the organizing force behind the famous Family Malanka which you can read about here.

Ukrainian Credit Union Limited is proud to be the lead financer of this project to build this new church. As part of our committment to assist the parishioners in successfully completing the construction we offer a "Church Builder Program" which allows parishioners of St. Joseph's Church to financially support the church when they save money at or borrow money from Ukrainian Credit Union Limited.

Ukrainian Credit Union Limited has a long history of providing the financial backing to build community structures such as places of worship. Another recent church funded by Ukrainian Credit Union Limited was Sts. Volodymyr and Olha in Windsor. You can read more about that church here.

For more information on St. Joseph's Church, please visit their website at: http://www.tserkva.ca/.
You can also see a video of the dome raising on our Youtube page - Raising the Dome.
Photos are available on our Facebook page.

Membership Appreciation Day is almost here!

Don't forget to drop by our Branch at Bloor and Armadale on Friday June 17 for the Membership Appreciation Day! We're starting at 10am, there will be light refreshments and some nice gifts. We also have several gift baskets to raffle off, one with goodies for the kids, one that has a number of items geared towards music (with some CDs included) and history (books and DVDs), and one a bit more oriented towards activities such as sports, dance etc.

We'll also hold the draw for two sets of tickets for the IUFT Toronto 2011 tournament that is being held in August at Centennial Park. Come down and visit us on Friday, we are looking forward to seeing you.

Various local businesses have pitched to help out with this event by sposorign variour things:

Sweets sponsor
Anna's Bakery

Coffeee Sponsor
Coffee Tree

Snack Trays
Max's Market

Items for Gift Baskets
Natalia Koulinich-Kolacz - CD
Ukrainian Ntional Federation - DVD
Sts. Vladimir & Olga Ukrainian Catholic Church, Windsor - Ukrainian Cookbook
Ukrainian Bookstore - 2 volume history about Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Ukrainian Credit Union - various items

Gift Bags
Basilian Press - Notepads
Ukrainian Credit Union - various items
Basilian Press -

Read more about our Membership Appreciation Day on Bloor in a previous post here.

Walking for Muscular Dystrophy

This Saturday our COO Roman Litwinchuk led a team of friends and family at the 3rd Peel Region Walk for Muscular Dystrophy. His team called the DMD (Duchene Muscular Dystrophy) Devils was the top fund raiser at the event accounting for an almost $5,000 of the $19,500 raised in the Peel Region walk! Great job folks!



The DMD Devils team which consists mostly of the Litwinchuk family and friends. 



About the event:

On Saturday June 11, the 3^rd Peel Region Walk for Muscular Dystrophy was held at Lake Aquitaine Park in Mississauga. The purpose of the walk was to raise funds to support the aims and objectives of Muscular Dystrophy Canada.

Muscular Dystrophy Canada is a non-profit organization that raises funds to support the independence and full participation of Canadians with neuromuscular disorders, fund research to find a cure and improve the quality of life for those affected by the disorder. Muscular dystrophy is the name for a group of over 100 neuromuscular disorders that are characterized by progressive weakness and wasting of the voluntary muscles that control body movement. Over time, persons with neuromuscular disorders may lose the ability to walk, speak, and ultimately breathe. Some disorders, can be fatal. Neuromuscular disorders are inherited, but can occur in families with no history of a neuromuscular disorder. Anyone, at any age can be affected and there is currently no cure.

A thanks to sponsors from the team members

We would like to extend our deepest appreciation for your generous sponsorship of our team the DMD (Duchene Muscular Dystrophy) Devils. This team was comprised of 15 members, all friends and extended family members of the Litwinchuk family (99% of which are currently members of Ukrainian Credit Union). Our team, with your help, was the top fundraiser for the event, raising almost $5,000. The Peel Region Walk raised $19,500.00. To date, MD Canada has raised $250,000 in Ontario, which represents 87% of its Ontario fundraising goal with still 4 walks remaining including its largest walk in Toronto. Canada wide – fundraising has reached 80% of its goal with over 25 more walks remaining. 

Once again, thank-you and

Let’s make muscles move!

The DMD Devils

Things you didn't know about UCU Board Members...

Spot light on:

Natalya Witiuk 

Natalya takes flight at Interlaken Switzerland

Natalie Witiuk (or Natalya, to most) is the Board of Directors’ newest, and youngest member...ever!  Natalya’s parents opened an account for her at the credit union shortly after she was born, but her real involvement with the credit union started as a 4-year old kindergarten student at St. Demetrius school, where every Wednesday,  she would line up to deposit her weekly allowance into her Fat Cat account.

In recent years, Natalya has kept herself busy with school.  In 2007, she graduated from the University of Waterloo where she studied Law and Speech Communication.  During her time at Waterloo, she was involved in student government, orientation events and represented the school at various community and academic conferences.  In her final year, Natalya was a residence don, meaning that she was in charge of creating a fun, open community environment for first year students to live and learn in during their first year away from home.

After four years in Waterloo, Natalya returned to Toronto, and completed a post-graduate certificate program in marketing management, which led to an internship at a major record label, and her first full-time job with a law firm.  While Natalya loved working on Bay St. and the daily “rat race”, she missed the student life, and decided to return to school to pursue her MBA at Queen’s University in Kingston.

Natalya at St. George's Fortress in Lisbon

During her year at Queen’s, Natalya didn’t have much time for anything that wasn’t related to accounting, finance or economics.  She did, however, manage to fit in a few trips to Montreal, Boston and Calgary to represent Queen’s at several case competitions, securing two finalist positions, and a first place finish!

Now that Natalya is finished with school, she’s looking forward to having a little more time for the things she loves - spending time with her family (which includes their dog Mika), scrapbooking, going to the cottage and travel!  Some of her favourite destinations have included Interlaken in Switzerland, Sardinia and Cinque Terre in Italy, Cayo Santa Maria in Cuba and Prague in the Czech Republic.

As a director Natalya is often called upon to represent UCU at official events.
Here she awards scholarships (sponsored by Western Union)
to students at the 2011 Maturalna Zabava.

You can read more about Natalya in an earlier post found here.

To read about other Board Members and employees who have been featured in the Spot Light please visit this page: Spot Light On...

Please note, Natalya left the Board in 2012.

Karpaty Football Club Family Picnic

The Karpaty Football Club held its annual Family Picnic at the Poltava Oselya on Saturday June 11. Despite the heavy rain in the morning, the skies cleared up and by the time the picnic started the weather was great. Almost 200 people showed up for a day of football matches, barbeque and catching up with friends.

The striker closes in on the ball during one of the matches.

The Karpaty Club is organizing this summer's International Ukrainian Football Tournament (IUFT Toronto 2001). Ukrainian Credit Union Limited is the tournament's main sponsor. To read more about the event please visit http://www.iuft.net/.

To win tickets to the IUFT Toronto 2011 opening and closing ceremonies (Aug 13 & Aug 20) enter our contest. But hurry up, You've only got till Wednesday June 15 to submit your entry!

UNF Community Garage Sale

Mark June 18th in your calendar. If you like a good bargain then this will be a transcedant experience. The Toronto Branches of UNF and UWO are holding their annual giant garage sale. There will be lots to choose from as many individuals and organizations will be participating.

In fact, if you prefer to be a vendor rather than a buyer, there might still time to get yourself a table. Email info@unftoronto.com for further details.

Members love the service

These past couple of weeks have been very busy in our Windsor Branch as it has been opening up dozens of new accounts left right and centre. This led us to wonder what some of the underlying reasons of this influx could be. Well after careful investigation we have determined that at least part of this is the great service provided by the staff including Anna Horbal pictured here.

Those flowers on Anna's desk? A gift to her from one of the newest members who was grateful for the personal and professional service that Anna provides.

If you've never been to our Windsor Branch, you can find them at 1275 Walker Rd. Unit 1A in Windsor or call them at 519.256.2955 to find out why they are so popular with their members.

You can read more about the goings on at our Windsor Branch at the following links:

Windsor Church Opening
Fall Bazaar
Spotlight On: Mike Kryworuchko, Branch Manager

Ukrainian Fashion in Sudbury

We promised an update on the Sudbury Ukrainian Seniors Centre Folk Costume Parade. The show featured 50 traditional, contemporary and matrimonial costumes from various regions in Ukrainian. Below is another picture featuring UCU's Halyna Zelionka modeling one of the costumes.

Read about this in an article in Northern Life. The photo above was taken by Northern Life.

June is Seniors Month!

Not only is this summer action packed for the little ones as our previous post shows, but there are plenty of things for seniors to do as well. One such event coming up is an event Celebrating Seniors that will be held at the Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre on June 25. Some of our staff from the St. Demetrius branch will be attending this event to say hi to our many members who live at the UCCC or in the neighbourhood.

You can find out more about the UCCC on their web page. Information about the Seniors event is on this page.

Summer activities for kids

There are a ton of things happening around the community this summer to keep kids of various ages engaged in fun learning activities. If you have kids between the ages of 5 and 16, take a look at what is on offer.

Camp Sonyashyk Day Camp is  designed for kids between 5-13 that wish to experience Ukrainian culture in a fun new way. Drop off the kids at 8am for an action-packed day of crafts, sports, Ukrainian dance and songs, day trips, culinary arts and much much more, running from July 4 to July 29. For more info and to register download a brochure here.

Camp Sokil Children's Camp (Дитячий Табір Сокіл) is an overnight camp for kids aged 6-14 held every year in spacious cabins at Camp Sokil on the shores of Lake Simcoe in the Village of Hawkestone. The camp includes swimming, sports, arts and crafts hiking and weekly mass. The goal of the camp is to elp develop the young leaders of tomorrow. For more info and to register download a brochure here.

Is dancing your passion? Why not try Табір Українського Танцю - Сокіл (Sokil Ukrainian Dance Camp). Kids 8 to 11 and 12 to 16 will spend a week between August 21 and August 27 learning from professional dance instructors from schools in the GTA area. In addition to danicng the kids will experience all the other activities that are available up at Camp Sokil including swimming, sports, hiking, ats and crafts and more. The camp culminates in a concert on the last day where the kids can show off all the new moves they've learned. For more info and to register download a brochure here.

For additional information on Camp Sokil visit the official web site.

For more info on other UNF events and activities visit their main web site.

More Junior Achievement Fun

UCU's dedicated volunteers moved their Junior Achievemnt road show to St. Sofia Catholic School in Mississauga on June 8th (previous appearances included Joseph Cardinal Slypyj Catholic School and St. Demetrius Catholic School).

Kasia Mnich (St. Demetrius Branch), Kristin Glover (Marketing)
and Christina Olenych (Admin Support) get ready to take on
Grades 7 and 8. Not pictured Liliya Boyko (Mississauga Branch)
and Yuriy Diakunchak (Marketing)

The teachers at St. Sofia had breakfast ready for us when we came!
Including a home made coconut cake made by Pani Ljahovic.
We were very pleasantly surprised. Plus they bought us lunch!

Well, that was the last Junior Acheivement appearance for this year. We look forward to doing it again next year with a new batch of students.

Fat Cat at Joseph Cardinal Slypyj Family Fun Fair

Despite the torrential rains on the morning of June 4, the Joseph Cardinal Slypyj Catholic School Family Fun Fair was a tremendous success. Tons of people showed up, made bids on tons of silent auction items, listen to live music, eat hot dogs and other snacks and visit the Ukrainian Credit Union booth for tons of fun give-aways.

Fat Cat made several appearances, walking the halls of the venerable school greating his legions of fans. His minions accompanied him bearing gifts such as tote bags, scrapbooking kits and water pistols.


Fat Cat and his crew get
mobbed by adoring fans

Scrapbooking kits and water guns were
among some of the goodies we were
handing out at the event.



Taras Rosocha bravely faced the frigid waters of the dunk tank.



Kasia Mnich (St. Demetrius Branch), Andrew Rozanec
(Acting Manager, Etobicoke Branch) and Olya Marek
(Senior Credit Underwriter) were among the volunteers
who came to staff the UCU booth.

Though we ended up getting driven inside during the downpour, at least
our tent proved useful in protecting the braver souls from the rain.

 More photos are available on our Facebook page.