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Date: 10/26/2022
BLANDFORD – Ron Hess of the Mennonite Church in Russell spoke to a packed room of residents at the Blandford Historical Society on Oct. 20 about a June 2022 trip to Ukraine, where he, his wife Sandra and two of his grown children joined other church members from the United States in packing and delivering food boxes to aid residents in the war zone.
Hess, who owns Countryside Woodcraft on Route 20 in Russell, also spoke about a call he recently received about an urgent need for blankets, comforters and sleeping bags as winter arrives in the country, which has been fighting against an invading army from Russia since February. He said winters in the Ukraine are similar to here, and fuel and electricity supplies have been hampered by the war. Hess said donations are needed and may be brought to the Countryside Woodcraft. He will be collecting donations until Nov. 15, and will deliver them to Ohio on Nov. 17 to include in a container shipment of 5,000 blankets.
At the Historical Society meeting, Hess talked about the situation in Ukraine in June, and showed pictures of the trip. The Mennonites have been sending groups since May on two-week shifts to pack 10,000 boxes of food, 20,000 per month, which Hess called “a drop in the bucket.” The church plans to continue this work through April 2024.
Known as the “breadbasket of Europe” with 102 million acres of farmland, Ukraine’s rural villages sit amid acres of corn, wheat and beans growing in abundance, which Hess highlighted in his photos. Hess said when the Soviet Union broke up, the Ukrainian government gave land to individuals in seven to 10 blocks for farming, many of which have now merged into conglomerates of farmers.
But the war has brought severe shortages of food, Hess said, in part because of the lack of diesel fuel to transport crops to market. He said everywhere one goes in Ukraine, there are trucks lined up on the sides of the road awaiting fuel. In June, fuel was being rationed in 15- to 20-liter containers, and the cost of diesel fuel ranged from $8 to $12 a liter. He said fuel was being brought into the country in small containers from Romania.
Since the Russian attack started on Feb. 24, 14 million Ukrainians have been displaced, 6 million outside of the country, and 8 million inside the country, including more than half of the country’s children. Hess said the numbers he had were as of June, and may have increased since then.
Hess and his group packed over 10,000 boxes of food sourced locally in 19 days, averaging 528 packed boxes a day. The Mennonite church has bought 10 vans for delivery, two vans driven together, two drivers in each van, mostly to eastern and southern sites where they delivered to churches with never-ending lines of people coming for help. He said they tried to fill the vans on the return trips with supplies and food for the boxes.
Asked to coordinate his group, Hess said the vans were constantly stopped for questions, and encountered roads that were blocked and bridges blown out, and every intersection has ditches and sand bags. Road and directional signs were erased or torn down. The church also employs a full-time mechanic due to the rough condition of the roads.
Some of the food they packed was delivered locally to the south of Kyiv, where the towns have swelled to three times their normal population, he said.
Hess said air raids and sirens were commonplace every day during their stay, and their group was ready to jump and leave at a moment’s notice. One missile hit a field near where they stayed and Hess took a photo of his entire group in the large hole left behind in the wheat field.
The young people in the Mennonite church worldwide also have a mission to collect seeds and distribute them in Ukraine, in an effort to raise the number of garden crops. There are also roof repair teams, temporary schools, firewood projects and building repair ongoing.
Hess told the Historical Society members at the beginning of the talk that he was not there to discuss politics nor to promote the efforts by his church. He said there are many other organizations helping.
He said the comforter drive is urgent. There is a lot of snow in the winter in the Ukraine, and most houses are heated by gas, the availability of which has been disrupted by the war. Even gathering wood for fires is difficult because of landmines that have been placed in the woods.
Anyone with questions may contact Ron Hess at 454-7254. He said blankets, comforters and sleeping bags should be in good condition.