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Date: 4/27/2022
WESTFIELD — The Full Gospel Church is scaling down its effort to collect donations for Ukraine and shifting its focus to assisting refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion as they arrive in Western Massachusetts.
Full Gospel Church volunteer Tanya Shut said April 23 that about half a dozen Ukrainian families have arrived in Greater Westfield in the past few weeks.
After nearly two months of collecting, the church had received and shipped more than 250,000 pounds of food, clothing and medical supplies to Ukraine to aid that nation’s military and any refugees fleeing the invasion. The supplies, which were donated by local businesses and residents, were sent via air and boat to Poland, where they were dispersed as needed to refugees or sent across the border into Ukraine.
Now Shut said the church on Union Street is scaling its effort down. Since shortly after the Feb. 24 start of the invasion, the function room on the side of the church’s building had served as more of a warehouse, constantly full of donated goods that were packed and shipped by volunteers. The room was cleared out last weekend so that it can go back to hosting events, but Shut said the church will continue to collect donations on a smaller scale.
Full Gospel Church is also looking for new kinds of donations for some of the refugee families that have settled in the area.
“Looking for a space where we can accept bigger donations to help furnish homes to help as these families are coming in and getting settled,” said Shut.
She said the church can send volunteers to pick up any donated furniture for the time being.
Most of the Ukrainian refugee families are staying with relatives they know in the area, but Shut said that several families from the church have offered to take in more, and they are expecting a lot more to arrive. Last month, President Joseph Biden announced that the United States would accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees while the Russian invasion continues, though they will require sponsor organizations or families to be allowed in.
“Everyone in the church knows someone from Ukraine who has been displaced,” said Shut.
Some of them are in different countries in Europe, simply waiting for their paperwork to be processed so they can come to the United States.
Shut said that a team has also been formed to participate in the Run Westfield Flat Fast 5K on May 21. “Pray4Ukraine” will run as a team in the 5K, and a portion of the donations they receive will be given to Full Gospel Church to aid the donation effort for Ukraine. Shut said that the team is looking for more people to join.