Rural parishes in the diocese rally to support Ukrainians

St George’s South Alice is a small church with a big heart. It counts a congregation of 15 very active members as a good Sunday.

The congregation came together to organize a barbecue that raised $6,000 to support Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country. 

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They didn’t have a venue for a sit-down event. Complying with health regulations they made it a take-out over two evenings based at the location of the Alice General Store.

St George’s, a member church of the Parish of the Valley, serves a rural area west of Pembroke. “The community here was very generous,” says Wanda Hilts, lead volunteer for the event. “It was just wonderful.” The fundraiser benefitted from a single donation of $1,500 and a total of about 1,900 small cash donations. 

Nine volunteers did the cooking and serving of made-to-order dinners. Hilts and her husband saw television news coverage of the efforts by St James Carleton Place to support a local charity, Ukrainian Diaspora Support Canada (UADSC), in bringing Ukrainians to Canada. They decided to lend a hand.

Meanwhile, Anglican Church Women (ACW) at Holy Trinity Pembroke, held coffee hours and lunches to raise $2,147.75, bringing the total contribution from the Area Parish of the Valley to $8,147.75.

It’s part of more than $30,000 that has been raised by rural parishes in the diocese to support the displaced Ukrainians. 

After overwhelming support in the spring for a local couple who set up the UADSC charity, St James Carleton Place became a distribution centre for clothing and supplies for arriving Ukrainians.

By the fall, St James was able to sell some of the excess stock while still maintaining enough for continuing arrivals. This raised about $7,000 that was donated to the UADSC cause.

St Paul’s Almonte raised $1,700 through two Ukrainian Easter Egg decorating workshops. Partnering with the Centre for Creative Living (CFCL), St Paul’s provided the space and three instructors donated their time. The 48 participants were asked to make a donation through Carebridge Community Support which at the time was handling donations for the UADSC group.

“This was an excellent opportunity for us to engage with our community, introduce people to our church and work together to support Ukrainian refugees,” Rev. Jonathon Kouri says.

As reported in June Crosstalk the Parish of Huntley in Carp raised $13,460 that was directed for aid to Ukraine through the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF).

Ukrainians fleeing the war are eligible under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) for a one-time non-taxable benefit payment of $3,000 per adult and $1,500 per child (age 17 and under). They do not qualify for refugee settlement programs.