A million in love and mercy
Did you know that there are villages in Ukraine where people still take goods on the "cross" (in debt) in stores? When we learned that in some places in Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions, people bought things for Kherson residents on credit, promising to pay after they received their pensions, we were moved to tears. Priests from different parishes testified to the amazing acts of mercy that people showed during the collection of donations.
This week, the Caritas-Spes Zhytomyr team brought humanitarian aid to a village in Chernihiv region, and people offered, "Why don't you bring what you brought to us to the people of Kherson? We want to support them so much, because people there are left without anything." The most touching thing was when in the destroyed villages, where the residents themselves had been under fire since the first day of the full-scale war, people who had previously been beneficiaries of our projects lined up to deliver humanitarian aid to others. This expression of solidarity and compassion inspires indescribable faith in our compatriots. And it is not just about the current collection. Ukraine is now like a large the-size-of-a-country anthill, where everyone is working together for the same purpose - to preserve and revive the most precious things.
From June 12 to June 18, Roman Catholic parishes were raising money to help residents of the Kherson region. In total, almost one million hryvnias and more than 21 tons of humanitarian aid were collected. Mostly people brought water, new bedding, new mattresses, sleeping bags, generators and hygiene products. This is probably the first collection of this scale in the parishes of the RCC. Some of the items have already been sent to Mykolaiv, and the rest are being delivered to the other parishes.
The action was organized by the directors of the diocesan centers of Caritas-Spes Ukraine in response to requests from those who wanted to help. "We were moved, sometimes to tears, by such solidarity. This is so about our people - when those in need are ready to help others," said Olena, a team member who spent a week visiting RCC parishes to collect donations.
Representatives of Caritas-Spes of Kyiv and Zhytomyr Diocese also wrote about cases when doctors from Zhytomyr Center for Emergency Medical Care and Disaster Medicine joined the collection. "There are cases when philanthropists learn about Caritas-Spes through a chain of "a few handshakes". And they trust us so much that they immediately come with donations," the foundation's team wrote on their Facebook page. "The buses are coming to us from everywhere! This is a powerful, sincere and merciful response of Ukrainians to the call to help the victims of the destruction of Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant by the occupiers. Dear friends, now our office, and the foundation in general, resembles a hypermarket with minibuses loaded to the ceiling arriving non-stop. And they are loaded with everything we asked you to donate to the people of Kherson. Your response has exceeded all our expectations!"
We are grateful to everyone who contributed with a prayer, donation or their time.
You can continue to support our ministry by following this link:: caritas-spes.org
