CHICAGO’S UKRAINIAN INSTITUTE FOR MODERN ART PARTNERS WITH VIRTUAL CONCERT HALLS TO HOST

A LIVE GLOBAL INTERNET BROADCAST

TO BENEFIT UNICEF USA

All Funds Raised will Support Emergency and Humanitarian Aid for

Ukrainian Families and Children Suffering from the Devastation of War

 

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

6:00am-11:59pm EST/EDT

 

Chicago --  On April 13,  2022,  the Ukrainian Institute for Modern Art (UIMA) is partnering with Virtual Concert Halls (VCHS) , a Virginia-based ITV producer, to host a global online fundraising effort to benefit UNICEF USA, who are committed to providing emergency aid to families and children in Ukraine. The event will stream to multiple social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and LinkedIn. 

 

Virtual Concert  Halls will take the 18-hour live Internet Web stream from 5:00 a.m. to 11 p.m. CT from the Institute’s gallery and distribute it live to major social media platforms. Virtual Concert Halls streams live events from all over the world and are experts at streaming simultaneously on multiple social media platforms.

 

Throughout the broadcast, news anchors will interview a wide variety of people who are close to the situation in Ukraine including historians, scholars, lawmakers, young Ukrainian refugees who recently arrived in Chicago,  among others.

 

UNICEF has been in Ukraine for 25 years—and it is on the ground now, delivering safe water, health and hygiene supplies, blankets, warm clothes and psycho-social care to children and their families.

 

Security is especially crucial during this time when many children and youth are separated from their families which leaves them in indescribably vulnerable.  Donations are accepted any time before, during, and after the live stream. 

According to a recent statement by UNICEF USA, two million children have now been forced to flee Ukraine, as the war rages on. “The situation inside Ukraine is spiraling,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “As the number of children fleeing their homes continues to climb, we must remember that every single one of them needs protection, education, safety and support.” 

In a joint statement, Motria Melnyk, President of the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art and Marta Farion, Vice President said, "The war in Ukraine is breaking all of our hearts and so the opportunity to make our facility the staging area for this amazing fundraising effort was enthusiastically welcomed by our board and staff." In addition to her work at the Ukrainian Institute, Farion is also the president of the Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America.

 

Virtual Concert Halls co-founder, Anna Ouspenskaya, said, “We are deeply touched and honored to be included in this project. People on our team come from different continents and backgrounds, but many of us share one thing in common: we carry scars and pains of being raised in the countries of the former Soviet bloc, or have relatives who endured the horrors of that terrible regime. Working on this project is the least we can do for Ukrainians who are enduring unimaginable pain. My colleagues at VCHS and I myself are putting our whole hearts into this effort.”

 

HELPING UNICEF IN UKRAINE Internet Broadcast is spearheaded by veteran public radio broadcaster, Steve Robinson, President of New Media Productions. In 2003 for the victims of the tsunami and again in 2010 for victims of the earthquake in Haiti, Steve organized all-day fundraisers in involving virtually all Chicago television and radio stations that each raised $3 million in humanitarian assistance. “I hope this 18-hour continuous stream raises millions of dollars for UNICEF in this emergency,” Robinson said.

 

 

ABOUT UNICEF:

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to pursue a more equitable world for every child. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, safe water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. UNICEF USA advances the global mission of UNICEF by rallying the American public to support the world’s most vulnerable children. Together, we are working toward a world that upholds the rights of all children and helps every child thrive. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.

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VIRTUAL CONCERT HALLS

Virtual Concert Halls (VCH) is Virginia-based independent live Internet TV broadcaster and Production Company which focuses its programming on education and music.  

Founded in 2020, VCHS quickly gained international recognition as a leading expert in live ITV and hybrid live streaming of complex broadcasts with global reach.  

Since launching 18 months ago VCHS earned its extensive experience in live ITV through production of over 600 live broadcasts with leading music, arts, educational organizations, and world class performers from every continent. VCH are experts in reaching out with the message of beauty, collaboration, love, and peace, to international communities through social networks and global video platforms.

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THE UKRAINIAN INSTITUTE OF MODERN ART:

The  Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) preserves and promotes contemporary art as a shared expression of the Ukrainian and American experience. UIMA develops, utilizes and encourages artistic talent through exhibitions, concerts, readings, lectures and films to serve the cultural needs of our community and city, and thereby strengthen cultural understanding and diversity.

For more information contact:

Steve Robinson at 312-545-3535

steve@newmediaproduct.com

or

Joanie Bayhack

jebayhack@gmail.com