Sebastopol World Friends Blog
Update on Chyhyryn Dormitory Restoration Project
In Chyhyryn, they are looking for benefactors to help renovate 11 blocks of the economic and legal vocational college. Currently, 40 displaced people live there in addition to students. After the renovation, the dormitory will be able to accommodate another 120...
Newsletter 2024
December, 2024 Greetings! The year 2024 was packed with great events and programs for Sebastopol World Friends! Once again, we are excited to share the year at a glance and our plans for 2025 with our community.Chyhyryn Program The year started with hosting a...
Friendship Dinner 2025 – Where Sushi Meets Borshch
Sister City Friendship Dinner - Where Sushi Meets Borshch Please join us at our Sebastopol Word Friend Friendship Dinner - Where Sushi Meets Borshch on January 25 from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm at Enmanji Temple Memorial Hall 1200 Gravenstein Hwy S, Sebastopol. This is our...
We Stand with Ukraine Benefit Lunch
Please Join Sebastopol World Friends for a lunch in Support of our Sister City Chyhyryn on the 2nd anniversary of the full scale invasion of Ukraine on Saturday February 24, 2024 at 1:00 pm at Sonoma Wine Shop & La Bodega, 2295 Gravenstein Hwy S. Sebastopol, CA We...
Community Presentation by Open World Delegation from Ukraine
February 2, 20247-9pmThe Sebastopol Grange6000 Sebastopol Avenue, Sebastopol CA Please join us and meet the delegation of six professionals from Ukraine, visiting Sebastopol through the Open World Program. Open World is a congressionally sponsored program that brings...
Please Help Keep Our Friends in Chyhyryn Warm This Winter
Sebastopol’s sister city in Ukraine, Chyhyryn, has been spared war-related damage and destruction but they are affected nonetheless. Thousands of Internally Displaced Persons have fled other areas of Ukraine and settled in Chyhyryn. Sebastopol World Friends has...
Be a Student Ambassador to Japan!
After the 3-year break, we are excited to bring our student exchange program back! Sebastopol World Friends invites Sebastopol students and their families to learn about the 2024-2025 exchange program with our sister city, Takeo, Japan. 7th and 8th grade students who...
2023 Student Ambassador Delegation Travel to Takeo
Sixteen student ambassadors and three chaperones successfully completed their 10-day homestay in Takeo in July 2023. Since their original trip scheduled for March 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic, the delegation waited for 3.5 years to reunite with their sister...
Thank you!
Thank you so much for joining us at the Sebastopol World Friends Friendship Celebration - Where Sushi Meets Borsch on Sunday, April 23 at St. Stephen’s Church in Sebastopol. Approximately 150 guests enjoyed the program and the harmony of sushi and borsch, SWF’s...
Friendship Celebration 2023 – Where Sushi Meets Borsch Outdoors
Please join us at our Sebastopol Word Friend Friendship Celebration - Where Sushi Meets Borsch Outdoors on April 23 from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 500 Robinson Road, Sebastopol. After a three-year break, we are excited to bring this popular...
Stand with Ukraine – Yoga for Peace
The war in Ukraine continues and we must not forget those who have shown such courageous spirit in the face of such horrendous conditions. What better way to connect than with a yoga class dedicated to the indomitable strength shown by our brothers and sisters in...
Please Help Build Invincibility Centers in Chyhyryn
Photo by Kostyantyn ChernichkinThe New Year is upon us now. Let's all hope that 2023 brings peace everywhere, especially to Ukraine. The response to our initial fund-raising appeal to equip Invincibility Centers in Chyhyryn has been extremely generous, but the needs...
Uchen Family Arrives from Ukraine
Sebastopol World Friends’ guiding principle is “World Peace, One Friend at a Time”. This is a story of that principle at work in real life. Sebastopol World Friends board member, Valeria Churma, and her husband Jeff have just recently welcomed a Ukrainian family into...
Our Friends in Chyhyryn and Cherkasy – Safe but Still Impacted
Patty Levenberg and Val Churma from Sebastopol at the opening of Dnipro River port facility near Chyhyryn in 2011We have had some news from our friends in Chyhyryn and the nearby Cherkasy (Santa Rosa’s Sister City).From Chyhyryn (visited Sebastopol in 2014): Thank...
How to Donate – Stand with Ukraine
There are many worthy organizations that you can find online doing good work in Ukraine. SWF will continue to update this page with information as we learn it. Listed below are the organizations which currently seem to be positioned to receive U.S. donations and get...
Special Movie Screening in Support of Ukraine
Please join Sebastopol World Friends and Sonoma Sister Cities Association for a special movie screening of Everything is Illuminated, based on Johnathan Safran Foer's novel, about a young man's journey in searching his family's past in Ukraine. A humorous yet...
Stand by Ukraine Donations
Sebastopol World Friends would like to express our sincere gratitude to the outpouring of support from the community since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine. From inquiries about how to help to simple expressions of sympathy and compassion, all of them have meant...
SWF’s Response to Crisis in Ukraine
Sebastopol World Friends has spent over $800 printing flags and banner to show our support for Ukraine these are displayed by our sister city signs on the east, west, and south entrances to the City. In addition, we have distributed over 100 paper flags to businesses...
Let’s Make a Peace Flag in Support of Ukraine
During the month of March SWF and the Sebastopol Branch Library have teamed up for a special project to show Sebastopol’s support for our friends in the Sister City of Chyhyryn. Everyone in the community is invited to come to the library to make a peace flag to send...
Apple Blossom Parade
Sebastopol World Friends will participate in the Apple Blossom Parade on Saturday, April 23. We will walk with the city council members to show our solidarity with our friends in Chyhyryn and people in Ukraine. You can also visit our table at the Apple Blossom Fair on...
Thank you Sebastopol Mayor and City Council
A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Sebastopol Affirming Support for our Sister City Ukraine and the Whole of Ukraine.
Watch our 2021 Friendship Dinner Celebration!
Dear Friends, The 2021 Sister City Friendship Dinner was unlike anything we have ever done before. And it was a huge success because of all of you who joined us on Zoom. We were thrilled to finally welcome our friends from Ukraine and Japan to join us all at the same...
Futomaki (Fat rolled sushi) Recipe
Futomaki is a large colorful sushi roll which are made by Japanese families with many variations and styles for parties and bento boxes. Below is the recipe that we have used for the Sebastopol World Friends’ Friendship Dinner over the past years with guidance of...
Japanese Cucumber “Sunomono” Salad Recipe
Sunomono (酢の物), which literally means “vinegared dish” is a traditional Japanese side dish which is made with cucumbers among other things. We have made several versions of Sunomono for the Friendship Dinner including one year when we made a spicy version by adding...
Ukrainian Cabbage Salad Recipe
Ukrainian Cabbage Salad is a type of vinegar coleslaw. To make it taste Ukrainian be sure to use sunflower oil. – Patty LevenbergIngredients (Makes about 12 servings) 1 pound cucumber, thinly sliced 1 small head of cabbage, shredded ½ head purple cabbage, shredded 1...
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