The Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. issued the following appeal, requesting prayers and donations for those affected by the floods in western Ukraine.
Seeing the face of Christ in others is a primary responsibility of all Christians. The Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. kindly requests prayers for the people of western Ukraine, who recently suffered from major flood destruction.
At the Metropolia Center of our Church, we know well the strength of major floods and the damage they can cause. In the past, the spiritual headquarters of the UOC of the U.S.A. as well as several parishes of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard experienced major flooding due to powerful storms and consequences. A few years ago, almost every building of the Metropolia Center in South Bound Brook, N.J., sustained damages following the impact of the natural disaster.
That is why various parishes of the Church across the country have already offered assistance to those in need in our ancestral Ukraine. We are most grateful to the members of St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Society, one of the central organizations of the UOC of the U.S.A., for the initial $25,000 grant to assist the victims of the flood. The society is challenging the membership of the UOC of the U.S.A. to match their grant in contributing whatever amount possible to the relief effort.
As the hierarchs of our Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., desirous of embracing the responsibility to care for those in need, we encourage our clergy and faithful to consider providing immediate assistance to the Special Relief Fund that our Church has established in order to provide assistance to numerous individuals who lost their homes, property, church buildings and community centers – to aid the victims of extremely destructive flooding in Western Ukraine.
Please, help us to bring peace, mercy, justice and love to a hurting world. Please consider contributing generously to the 2020 UA Flood Relief Fund, sponsored by our Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.. Your gift makes a world of difference!
Please make your online contributions at https://uocofusa.org or make checks payable and mail to: UOC of the U.S.A. (Memo: 2020 UA Flood Relief Fund), P.O. Box 495, South Bound Brook, NJ 08880.