UUARC collects $60,000 for flood-ravaged regions (05/16/99)

UUARC collects $60,000 for flood-ravaged regions

by Lew Iwaskiw

PHILADELPHIA - The United Ukrainian American Relief Committee's aid to flood victims in the Zakarpattia region of Ukraine and the Mare region of Romania has thus far collected more than $60,000.

Within days of the disaster in November 1998, the UUARC sent urgent appeals for help to the Ukrainian American community, through national and local Ukrainian newspapers and radio programs in the Philadelphia and New York-New Jersey areas, as well as via letters to Catholic and Orthodox Ukrainian parishes.

The community responded swiftly and generously. Many community organizations and parishes organized local drives and delivered their collections to the UUARC. The extraordinary efforts of certain individuals should be noted: Joann Tytanych from Altoona, Pa., and Lydia Boyko from Newport News, Va., along with their volunteers, drove truckloads of supplies collected by their communities many hundreds of miles to Philadelphia.

To date, the UUARC has received over $60,000, of which $20,000 has been distributed as emergency aid in the Transcarpathian region by UUARC director in western Ukraine, Dr. A. Dyda. More than 300 parcels of new and used clothing, blankets and personal items have been sent by container to Mukachiv in Zakarpattia, and $15,000 was sent to the Association of Ukrainians in Romania, where over 1,000 Ukrainian families in three villages in the Mare region were left homeless.

A complete report on the UUARC collection effort will be published in the Ukrainian press in the near future. However, relief efforts are continuing with the reconstruction of homes damaged by mudslides. The UUARC has earmarked the balance of the funds for building supplies for home construction. Donations may be sent to: UUARC, 1206 Cottman Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19111.

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