The van Staveren family, along with Mayor Debra Button, applaud after bidding finished for a special Ukrainian-themed tree, and the family then learned that the buyer of the tree, Mal Barber, donated it back to the family. From left are Kym, Alina, Marcel and Oksana van Staveren, Mayor Button, and Gary Hoium, a volunteer for the Family Place. During the bidding for the tree, Marcel was bidding against Mal, and it went for $4,900, tied for the top price paid for a tree with one bought by Jeff Tosczak, which was the people’s favourite tree. The Ukrainian tree included many hand-crafted wooden items brought back from Ukraine by Mayor Button from her last trip to Kyiv in November; the two van Staveren daughters here were adopted from Ukraine by Kym and Marcel. The evening event brought in a total of $72,000 for the Family Place.
