Dear Editor:
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it” – William Arthur Ward.
With this in mind, the volunteers of St. John Ukrainian Catholic Church Charitable Program in Newark, N.J., send a huge thank-you to readers of The Weekly for their compassion and generosity.
Several months ago we shared a devastating account about people in Ukraine who are so poor there are days they don’t have enough food to put on their tables. We reported about our “Feed the Hungry in Ukraine” drive, which is still in progress. Monetary donations are collected here and sent to our volunteers in Ukraine. A mere $15 purchases a large bag of food, including cooking oil, flour, sugar, rice, buckwheat and other staples. Volunteers buy these in wholesale warehouses and pack them into bags for delivery to those hurting the most. Response from readers of The Weekly has been overwhelming, with donations totaling over $4,000, many arriving with beautiful letters of encouragement.
The biggest challenge of running international drives of this sort is ascertaining that people at the other end are trustworthy. Our volunteers stationed throughout Ukraine have all proven to be very reliable, and we have worked with them for over 10 years. Some of them are affiliated with the Catholic Church, others work with secular organizations. Still others are simply laypeople who feel empathy for their fellow man and visit the needy on our behalf.
Halyna Tokar lives in Kamiana, a village near the city of Chernivtsi. Twelve years ago she started an organization for invalid children. She is the mother of two handicapped sons and understands better than most the needs of the infirm. She writes: “Families that have disabled children (and there are hundreds of them in our region) more often than not are very poor. The mother is always a full-time caregiver and cannot contribute to the household income. Much of the father’s salary is spent on medications. So, not only do these homes suffer the pain and mental anguish of having a disabled child, but very often they are also wanting in basic necessities. Your bagful of groceries is like a gift from heaven.”
Father Roman Syrotych of Kyiv, writes: “We often visit the elderly, people who were once active members of society but today have many ailments or simply suffer of infirmity that comes with old age. Many of them have meager pensions that barely pay for social services. Very often they have no one to turn to. Imagine the joy that an unexpected gift will bring to people who feel that they have been completely forgotten.”
These sad stories are a reminder of how much need there is in the world, particularly in Ukraine. But, with the generosity of upstanding individuals in the diaspora and with the support of volunteers in Ukraine, we can bring some comfort and joy, if only to some.
To date, our drive has collected over $20,000. If anyone would like to join in this endeavor, please make checks payable to St. John Ukrainian Catholic Church Charitable Program and send them to 719 Sanford Ave., Newark, NJ 07106. Once again, thank you!
Newark, N.J.
The letter-writer is director of the charitable program at St. John Ukrainian Catholic Church in Newark, N.J.