Veronica Cave won鈥檛 soon forget her conversations with members of Team Ukraine at the Canada Cup fastpitch tournament, who described what their life was like in a country under siege.

鈥淭he conversation that does stick is the coach that lived in an apartment, about 16 floors up,鈥� recalled Cave, owner of Veronica鈥檚 Gourmet Perogies in Aldergrove.

鈥淭hey have to go below into a safe zone because of the bombing,鈥� Cave said.

鈥淪ome of the girls that were playing baseball, their baseball diamond has now a big crater in it. It鈥檚 pretty tough when you can鈥檛 practice, when you don鈥檛 have a proper field.鈥�

Cave donated 60 dozen perogies to Team Ukraine Night at the 2023 Canada Cup fastpitch tournament at Softball City in Surrey on Tuesday, July 11.

The Ukraine players seemed to love the perogies, which went 鈥減retty quick,鈥� she said.

鈥淚 think they were very excited to see that,鈥� Cave told Black Press Media.

鈥淚鈥檓 not sure what kind of Canadian food they actually had here, but a little taste of home comfort was definitely fun for them. Especially knowing another Ukrainian had made them.鈥�

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Cave said she was tipped about the team by a 鈥渧ery loyal customer鈥� who suggested she get in touch with Canada Cup organizers.

鈥漇o I contacted the organizer and said 鈥榟ey, is there anything I can do? 鈥淲hat can we do to network or collaborate?鈥�

She provided the perogies to the event caterers, who cooked them up for the Tuesday event.

鈥滻 was invited to see the them play the baseball, and meet the girls, and meet the coaches,鈥� Cave said.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got to remember this war is still continuing,鈥� Cave added.

鈥淚t hasn鈥檛 stopped. I don鈥檛 know when it鈥檚 going to go away, but I wish it would stop because it鈥檚 definitely touching a lot of lives.鈥�

As well, 91原创 RCMP Cst. Dennis Bell, who worked with Cave to put together a fundraising dinner for Ukraine shortly after the Russian invasion began, attended the Team Ukraine night in full red serge, with permission from his superiors, Cave said.

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Dinner for Ukraine, served by RCMP and fire officers, nets $10,000 for relief

Team Ukraine won their first two games before losing to Portland鈥檚 team Bridgeball Softball in the playoff round.

The Ukrainian women鈥檚 junior softball team was able to participate in the 2023 Canada Cup after organizers raised $60,000 to help pay their way over.

A fundraising drive hit it鈥檚 target in just over a week with contributions from the City of Surrey, more than 500 individuals and local businesses.

READ ALSO: Team Ukraine coming to Canada Cup as B.C. residents, businesses, raise $60K

Running from July 7-16 at Softball City in Surrey the event attracted more than 1,500 elite athletes, including the Canadian National team.