U.S. Cities and Churches are Saving Ukraine from a Humanitarian Catastrophe

2015/7/31 14:48:57

Save Ukraine Now today announced it has sent multiple shipping containers as part of the Ukraine Survival campaign with emergency supplies for more than 1.4 million refugees throughout the nation.

 


TUCKER, Georgia, July 28, 2015

Save Ukraine Now, a non-partisan, inter-faith coalition formed to alleviate Ukraine’s humanitarian catastrophe, today announced it has sent multiple shipping containers as part of the Ukraine Survival campaign with emergency supplies for more than 1.4 million refugees throughout the nation.

 

The shipping containers, with a volume of 8 ft. x 8 ft. x 40 ft., are each filled with hundreds of boxes of supplies from organizations in Detroit, Baltimore, Orlando, and Port Saint Lucie, Florida. Fifteen campaigns are also underway in cities of all sizes including Chicago; Warren, Michigan; Meadville, PA; Spencerport, NY and New York City.

 

Ed Michael, Senior Pastor of Eastern Assembly of God in Baltimore, said, “My congregation was deeply moved when Dr. Kellner showed us the video of the suffering people of eastern Ukraine, and when we realized more than a million people were affected, we knew we had to act. The Lord has blessed us with so many material comforts in the United States, and we felt compelled to share some of them with our brothers and sisters in that war-torn land.”

 

Dr. Gary Kellner, President of Save Ukraine Now, added, “Americans always respond generously once they realize the true extent of the need. It is amazing to see how quickly the local teams fill these shipping containers once their hearts are touched by the plight of the people displaced by the conflict in Ukraine.

 

“The burgeoning humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine has rapidly outstripped the resources of the Ukrainian government, international aid agencies and NGOs. More than two million men, women and children have been driven from their homes, often with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Unless NGOs and faith-based communities step up, people will get sick and die. Filling containers is not an option; it’s a necessity.”

 

According to UNOCHA (United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), it will take more than $330 million to feed the internal displaced persons. Of that, no more than 10 percent has been spent to date.

 

Save Ukraine Now has created a unique micro-distribution network of 12,000-to-15,000 local Ukrainian churches, synagogues and mosques to speed emergency supplies to remote villages in eastern Ukraine. The Office of the President in Ukraine expedites customs, provides transportation and guarantees security. SUN also works with larger relief organizations to fill gaps in service as these groups are stretched to the breaking point by the volume of the need.

 

For more information about Save Ukraine Now, please call 404-862-8183, email info@saveukrainenow.org  or visit http://www.saveukrainenow.org.

 

Save Ukraine Now also publishes a blog with the latest information about Ukraine at http://www.saveukrainenow.org/blog.

 

Text and photo courtesy Save Ukraine Now

 

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