by Leanne Loy
It isn’t the first time Mary Bruno, owner of Bruno Press in St. Joseph has given back. In fact, being able to help those in need is one of the things she loves best about being the owner of a small business. Many people are hurt and upset by what is happening in Ukraine right now and there are a lot of people who want to help. The question is, how?
When Aric Katterhagen, a long-time friend of Bruno’s and originally from Rice, called Bruno up and asked her if she wanted to do a project for Ukraine, it was a no-brainer.
Together, with some of his friends Bruno met through Katterhagen, the planning started.
In order for the project to come to life, Bruno had a couple of demands to make it as meaningful as possible. First, the design had to be perfect.
“I wanted the content to strike a chord with the target audience,” Bruno said.
And she took this step seriously. Katterhagen happens to have some friends who are Ukrainian, Oksana Chabanenko and Marina Zrodlowski, along with the help of Zrodlowski’s husband Joe were more than happy to help. It didn’t take long for them and Bruno to start discussing ideas for the design.
Through zoom meetings they discussed several ideas, keeping in mind what would be the most meaningful to the Ukrainian people.
“We didn’t want it to be super depressing obviously but not so sticky sweet either because this is real,” Bruno said.
In the end, what they came up with is strong, powerful, and really hits the nail on the head for being meaningful.
Taken from the Bruno Press website this is how the imagery and words on the poster are described: “The text on this poster comes from the Ukrainian Anthem and the words are a battle cry. Anyone who stands for freedom and democracy can relate to the Ukrainian struggle. One easy to make weapon is the Molotov cocktail. The Molotov is also known as a petrol bomb, firebomb and bottle bomb, among other names.”
The hand on the poster holding the Molotov has a grip that shows strength, power and unity. At the bottom of the poster there is a phrase written in Cyrillic text (the Ukrainian language) when translated means, “Slava Ukrani” or “Glory to Ukraine.” This official salute of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is a symbol of Ukrainian sovereignty and resistance. It is often accompanied by the response “Glory to the heroes!”
The second most important element in all of this was that Bruno wanted to make sure the proceeds were going directly to those who needed it most, so finding the right source was incredibly important to her.
“When I do these things and I donate to someone I find it really important to be intentional. I don’t want it [the proceeds] to go to some giant cooperation; I want to know where it’s going.”
One of the members of the group knew exactly where to go. Chabanenko has had a lot of interaction with this organization and knew it was a great fit.
The proceeds will go directly to the Ukrainian American Coordination Council. The UACC is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that is currently supporting the civilian defense units of Ukraine by supplying them with helmets and body armor in bulk quantities. “Since the 1960s the UACC has worked together with national and international partners developing sustainable and enduring Ukrainian communities. The UACC is a trusted source of fund appropriation for the current crisis in Ukraine” their website states.
The posters, sell for $40 each and are available now on the Bruno Press website at: https://www.mcbrunopress.com/posters-more/ukraine.
You can also purchase a poster from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 16 at the next open house at Bruno Press, inside garage on, 154 SE Fifth Ave. and Baker Street, St Joseph. (Additional photo on page 9)
Editor’s note: I’d like to add a personal thank you to Mary Bruno for not only sharing her story, but also for giving us all a way to help our Ukrainian brothers and sisters.
Mary Bruno of Bruno Press runs a poster through the press trying to line the image up perfectly. These posters are made specifically as a way to help fund the Ukrainian people.
The image on the left shows the lettering that was hand carved by Mary Bruno herself. The carving process of this particular image took about four hours.
The final poster created by Mary Bruno in support of the Ukrainian people. Each poster sells for $40.00 on the Bruno Press website and proceeds go the UACC to help fund safety equipment.
Each poster will need to take five runs through the press adding a different color and different part of the design.
The bottom portion of the poster that Bruno Press has created in support of the Ukrainian people. The phrase here means, “Glory to Ukraine.
One of the passes that the posters for Ukraine takes through the printing press. Each poster will have to make five passes before it its completed, this is all by hand. 100 posters are being made currently but if it takes off Mary Bruno is willing to do another run.
