COMMUNITY CHRONICLE (01/12/03)

COMMUNITY CHRONICLE

New Britain parishioners send aid to Ukraine

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - A small but dedicated group of parishioners at St. Mary's Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been steadily at work over the past 11 years sending clothing, food and medical aid to Ukraine. To date, the Bundles for Ukraine group, financed by parishioner donations, has sent over 120,000 pounds of aid.

In addition, each year the group collects toys, candy, cookies, cocoa and children's clothes/shoes to send as gifts for the children for the feast day of St. Nicholas. Thanks to the support of parishioners and friends, boxes totaling over 3,900 pounds were sent this year to 71 locations in Ukraine. These include 69 parishes where the Orthodox priest distributes the gifts to the children, an orphanage in Oleshu in Kherson Oblast, and a school in the village of Synne in the Kharkiv Oblast.

In addition to the gifts, the Bundles group supports the purchase of bread and milk for the lunches of the 70 children in the village school.

The 10 parishioner-volunteers meet every Thursday without fail to sort the donations and to pack the boxes. They are Alise Andrusia, Andrew Buszko, Ann Hattis, Kay Kerelejza, Helen Kocha-nowski, Sylvia Lindgren, Mary Ann Pilgrim, Helen Prestash and Julia Stepanczak. In addition, John Petruniw supplies all the boxes, and Dymitri Shafran translates all the letters the group receives. Dr. Joan D. Kerelejza is chairperson of the project.

Since the project barely survives financially from year to year, the Bundles for Ukraine group appreciates monetary donations. These may be sent to: Bundles for Ukraine, c/o Dr. Joan D. Kerelejza, 50 Ellsworth Blvd., Kensington, CT 06037. For more information about the project e-mail [email protected].

Clifton parish hosts visit of St. Nicholas

CLIFTON, N.J. - December 15, 2002, marked an important accomplishment for St. Mary Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Church parishioners here as St. Nicholas visited this growing community for the first time in approximately 30 years. Due to growing parish membership and frequent attendance by children, the generous saint couldn't pass up an opportunity to check on everyone's behavior for the year, as well as deliver gifts and treats. A pleasant time was had by all. Pictured above prior to St. Nicholas' arrival, are St. Mary Church's greatest asset, its children, together with the Very Rev. Michael Zemlachenko.

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