At Jacksonville’s World of Nations Festival, some come together to support Ukraine

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sunday was the last day of the World of Nations Festival in downtown Jacksonville.

And as the fight continues for people in Ukraine amid a Russian invasion, some of those at the event want to support them.

News4JAX spoke with a woman who said World of Nations was the perfect opportunity to just talk with people about what’s going on.

Many people at the event knew the situation in Ukraine. They used words like awful and sad.

Jennifer Wolfe came out to support Ukraine along with a friend of hers who is from Ukraine.

Wolfe said each of us can do something to change the situation in Ukraine, and she says it starts by standing up.

“When one country is under attack we’re all under attack. And these were people that were gathered to honor the fact that we’re all global citizens we’re all part of this world and all of us want peace and safety for our children. Nobody wants war and we definitely heard that over and over again when we were out there,” Wolfe said.

Another person said being at World of Nations should serve as a reminder that people can come together.

“I would say that seeing other cultures here and everything today is like proof that you don’t need any war or any other problems with countries or cultures its all really one love. This is a good example of it. We got different booths with different nations and it can’t get any better,” said Alex, who also attended the event.

The director of an immigrant services program, Edlyne Verna, said they hope to help as many refugees and immigrants as they can.

“Every time there is disruption in the world there is displacement of people,” Verna said. “Ukraine with the problem they are having right now we are going to see an influx of people seeking asylum to American and we are going to have to be ready to give them the help they need.”


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A Florida-born, Emmy Award winning journalist and proud NC A&T SU grad

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