"Yoga United for Ukraine" is a fundraiser organized in February 2022 by the Yoga Special Interest Group (Yoga SIG) of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) in the United States, with support from SIO and our allied organizations British Society for Integrative Oncology, International Association of Yoga Therapists, and Center for Global Health Equity and Empowerment. Please see our website for more information: www.YogaUnitedForUkraine.org.
The SIO Yoga SIG is an international team of 40+ yoga therapists and yoga teachers in the US, Canada, and UK who work with cancer patients, survivors, and their families. We know first hand that having a child or adolescent diagnosed with cancer is a traumatic experience for every family and requires an enormous inner strength from parents, siblings, or close relatives.
We have come together as a passion-based community to raise funds in support of emergency humanitarian aid for children and adolescents in Ukraine whose life-saving cancer treatments have been interrupted by war.
Our beneficiary is Tabletochki Charitable Foundation, the largest pediatric oncology nonprofit in Ukraine (founded 2011) and a St Jude Children’s Research Hospital (St Jude) partner organization.
Tabletochki staff are currently on the ground in Ukraine procuring medication and consumables, and assisting the evacuation of children and their families to Poland. They are doing so in an extremely fragile and fluid environment. Once the children cross the border and are deemed medically stable, their partner St Jude oversees their further transport to a network of hospitals throughout Europe and in North America. Many are arriving in Poland in life-threatening condition.
Yoga SIG is in direct contact with Tabletochki staff in Ukraine. Olga Poliakh recently wrote us from Lviv:
“All the support from the international community is important for us as never before. We are incredibly grateful to you and the whole group of healthcare professionals in the US, Canada, and the UK who work in oncology and pediatric oncology for your support of Ukraine and our Foundation particularly…Right now we are looking for ways we can adapt to this brutal reality so that we can continue to be a beacon of hope and help for children who are being treated now (those who have left and those who haven’t yet) and those who would need to be diagnosed and treated in the nearest future.”
We all see on our news feeds that this work is urgent; the situation dire.
We invite you to join your colleagues working in cancer care and make a tax fee donation to support the life-saving work of Tabletochki, an extraordinary group of humanitarians who are on the ground in Ukraine providing aid to our most vulnerable oncology populations. You may donate securely via this fundraising page that we have created on their behalf. Global Giving is a United States nonprofit (with a 4/4 rating on Charity Navigator) that connects donors with grassroots projects around the world.
When we all come together, the scale of the collective good can make a more profound impact on the lives of Ukraine's children, teens, young adults, and families who desperately need our help! "Yoga United for Ukraine" is a grass roots effort, so please spread the word within your own networks! Together, we can make a difference.
By amplifying the voice of the cancer community in Ukraine, we are not turning away from the profound suffering experienced by millions of cancer patients in other parts of the world. We recognize that disparity in cancer care is itself a malignancy and we are committed to fighting it. This is but one effort to do so.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) and its Executive Committee, as well as the support of our allied organizations, British Society for Integrative Oncology (BSIO); International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT); and Center for Global Health Equity and Empowerment (GHEE).
May there be peace on Earth and may all beings be free from suffering.
