For almost a decade, Charlottesville resident Valerie Goodman has created Ukrainian eggs for fun—but when Russia invaded Ukraine, she saw the eggs as a way to raise money and awareness.
Since March, Goodman has hosted egg-decorating parties for up to a dozen people. At the events, the minimum donation is $25 per egg, but Goodman says attendees have been averaging about $50 per egg, or about $500 per party. So far, over $16,000 has been raised for Ukraine.
Egg decorating in Ukraine is traditionally a springtime activity, but has associations with Easter. Decorations can have both religious and symbolic meanings: Spirals catch evil. Hollow eggs capture bad energy. Others represent love, prosperity, and wealth. These eggs, known as pysanky, derived from the Ukrainian verb meaning “to inscribe,” have inscriptions made with beeswax, rather than paint.
Before each party, Goodman washes and prepares the eggs, donated by neighbors, and brings kistka and Ukrainian dyes, which she purchased from the Ukrainian Gift Shop in Minneapolis.
The kistka, a special writing implement used to decorate the eggs, looks like a copper funnel attached to a wooden stick. Beeswax is melted into the funnel by holding it over a flame, and at the opposite end is an opening the size of a ballpoint pen from which the wax can emerge in fine detail. The eggs are then dipped in watercolor Ukrainian dyes. Once the wax gets stripped off, the design remains etched on the surface, and the eggs are shellacked. The whole process takes roughly two hours.
When Goodman announced that she would be hosting egg-decorating parties, she received an overwhelming amount of support—she scheduled 30 parties right away.
“The only thing I want to get out of this is that we come together and give to Ukraine, to people who need it right now during this horrific time,” says Goodman.
Each individual party decides together where the money will go, and it’s up to the host to collect what’s been raised, and make the donation on everyone’s behalf. GlobalGiving, Heart to Heart, World Central Kitchen, International Rescue Committee, UNICEF Ukraine, Red Cross Ukraine, and Doctors Without Borders are among the humanitarian aid organizations that have benefited from the egg-decorating events.
The parties have primarily been attended by middle-aged women and their friends, but attendees come from everywhere. Malati Mari Kurashvili, a yoga instructor from the country of Georgia who has lived in Charlottesville for seven months, compared Ukrainian egg decorating to that of Georgians. In Georgia, eggs are primarily decorated with religious symbols and dyed red, while Ukrainian egg decorating includes a variety of symbolic meanings.
Being right on the border with Russia, Georgians have also been significantly affected by the war, and Kurashvili wanted to find a way to offer support to Ukrainians. She says the situation has been hard for Georgians, who have faced conflict with Russia for years.
“It’s just very triggering, this situation, because we’re scared that we’re going to be next,” says Kurashvili. “The Georgian government right now really took a very neutral position so we wouldn’t get affected as Ukraine, because we can’t resist like Ukraine’s doing right now.”
“We have Russian ties, and their armies are halfway into the capital,” she adds. “We will be destroyed in a heartbeat. So I tell you the truth, everybody’s very scared.”
Kurashvili has been moved by the support that Charlottesville has shown for Ukraine.
“I was very, very grateful at how kind and really caring people are here, because they really don’t have anybody out there,” says Kurashvili. “They have no connection to Eastern Europe, but they still care to do all this.”
While Goodman initially planned to host the egg-decorating parties until Easter, she says they’ll continue as long as people show up for them. Her next steps include looking for a matching grant for the funds that have been raised, and recruiting local artists to make eggs that can be auctioned off. And when the war ends, she wants to host the parties again to raise money to help rebuild Ukraine.
“As [people] finish the process and start to reveal their egg by melting off the wax, they love it, ” says Goodman. “And then I say, okay, now let’s give some money to Ukraine. Because that’s what these families would be doing if they weren’t running for their lives.”
“Look at us, we’re safe and we’re lucky enough that we can help,” she adds. “So dig into your pocket, let’s go, let’s help.”
To sign up to participate in an egg-decorating party, visit https://life12.schedulista.com.