Christ Church Greenwich To Hold Event To Benefit Ukraine

GREENWICH, CT — Christ Church Greenwich is organizing an event to provide 36,000-plus packages of nutritional meals for Ukrainian refugees on the border of Poland.

All ages are welcome to help during the "packathon" on March 26 at 10 a.m. in the Christ Church Parish Hall, located at 254 E. Putnam Ave. in Greenwich.

During a two-and-a-half-hour shift, teams of volunteers will assemble four complete nutritious ingredients: a carbohydrate, dehydrated vegetables, vitamin powder and a bean protein. Volunteers will weigh the packages, seal them and box them for distribution.

In coordination with the Ukrainian Cultural Center in New Jersey, these meals will be transported to the docks and packed into a container and loaded onto a ship headed to Gdansk, Poland. BOC International will handle the transportation free of charge, Christ Church Greenwich said in a news release. BOC International has already shipped nine containers of meals to Poland.

Upon arrival, the Lviv Provincial Administration will take possession and will be responsible for distribution. Some of the non-perishable food they have been shipping include Mac n' cheese, tomato basil pasta, apple cinnamon oatmeal and raisin cinnamon rice.

"People are watching, listening and reading about the atrocities of Russian troops invading Ukraine," the Rev. Marek Zabriskie said in a news release from the church. "We are witnessing civilians being bombed as they try to leave their nation. People are trapped in their cities and towns and our hearts are deeply grieved. I urge everyone to pray every single day for the innocent people who are in harm’s way. We can also respond in hands-on ways by getting supplies to the refugees. These are important gestures so that together, we can help in every way that we can."

The total cost for the supplies and food for the packathon is $12,600.Christ Church Greenwich is asking the community to donate whatever they can to help underwrite these expenses.

Donations can be made directly to the Packathon by going to the church's website or Text To Give 73256 and enter Ccgctgive.