Washington, June 14 (Representative Three Orthodox parishes in Washington, DC from different church jurisdictions began a joint humanitarian aid project for people affected by the conflict in Ukraine, rector of the Russian St John the Baptist cathedral Archpriest Victor Potapov told Sputnik. “A couple of weeks ago, we began a drive to collect used clothing, non-perishable foods and toiletries,” Potapov said. Two other parishes from the US capital with a large number of Russian and Ukrainian believers, St Andrew Ukrainian church and St Nicholas cathedral from the Orthodox Church of America, also participated in the project, he added. The first container with clothes and other humanitarian aid have already been sent to Europe, from where it will go to Kiev.
Now all three parishes are working on collecting items for another container. The Archpriest said, “Our parishioners keep sending us help. We continue that effort, and we will continue it for as long as possible. As Christians, our main goal is to pray and do everything in our power to end this war sooner than later. We have placed the relics of the Kiev Caves Monastery saints in the middle of the church, and every Sunday we serve a special prayer service for the end of hostilities in Ukraine.” In a separate initiative, St John the Baptist cathedral, which belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), sent about 10,000 dollars to Taganrog, a city in the south of Russia, which received many refugees from Ukraine. “We are helping a couple of parishes there, and we received a notification from one of the priests that the money has been received, and they are very grateful, they have sent us photos of some of the refugees,” Potapov said.
The priest noted the energy with which believers are participating in the humanitarian aid project. “Many of our parishioners have been participating in this relief, and everyone is very enthusiastic about donating. People are continuing to bring bags full of clothing, and we have to pack it and send a second container soon,” he added. The Russian parish in Washington also gathered 35,000 dollars for refugees from Ukraine as part of the Fund for Assistance to the ROCOR (FFA) fundraising, part of which was already sent to ROCOR’s diocese in Germany for further distribution. “The FFA itself has gathered about 350,000 dollars for Ukrainian relief,” Potapov said.