Collection of Medical Supplies for Ukraine

Village Lutheran Church and The Chapel School Host Collection of Medical Supplies for Ukraine

Bronxville, NY- Over 1700 items, (500 pounds) of medical equipment and first aid supplies are on the way to Ukraine after a successful collection drive was held at Village Lutheran Church & The Chapel School. “We have local connections to the Ukrainian community and we need this community to take action. One simple way to do that is to collect and send urgently needed supplies,” Rev. Dr. Robert Hartwell stated during Sunday Morning Announcements. The donations came in all week and were sorted by office staff each morning, to help make packing day more manageable. “Wow, this is amazing,” was heard each time someone walked into the room. The collection included over 300 bottles of tylenol and aspirin, 147 tubes of neosporin, over 80 complete first aid kits, over 300 packages of gauzes and bandages and much more. “People are so generous, and everyone came together to help,” stated Grace who was helping to pack and sort the items.

The collection began at the church and school but soon after sharing the flier online the local Village Halls all wanted to be involved. Collection bins were placed at Bronxville, Tuckahoe and Eastchester Town Halls. “We have family members currently living in Ukraine, and watching the news makes you feel so helpless. I organized the drive as a way to show our support and help with desperately needed items,” stated Kim Zwisdak, Development Office Project Manager at Village Lutheran Church and The Chapel School.

“We have so much and sometimes take it for granted, to see the collection of items that are so desperately needed was wonderful,” stated Julie Vandak, resident of Bronxville and owner of Groom Spot in Tuckahoe. “My car looks small but has so much room and storage, I was happy to be able to donate my time sorting and driving the packages to NJ.”

The Chapel School is a place where service as a way of life is promoted to all students and families. Sharing time, talents, and treasures with people in the community and around the world distinguishes The Chapel School as a caring place where God's love is freely shared. “We focus on developing compassionate, empathetic and charitable hearts and heeding a call to action to bring peace and relief to the disadvantaged and underserved,” stated Mr. Michael Schultz, Principal. The students and teachers were eager to help and the donation bins had items each morning after drop off. Some parents mentioned how their child took the initiative and wanted to go shopping with them for the items.

“We personally delivered the boxes to Meest in Port Reading, NJ. We have used the shipping company in the past when sending and receiving packages to family in Ukraine,” stated Kim. “They have shipments of humanitarian aid each day being sent to Western Ukraine and then distributing them to relief organizations on the ground.” To help with the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine during this time of war, Meest-America is collecting humanitarian aid donations to be shipped to Ukraine. Humanitarian aid will be automatically delivered to International Charitable Foundation “Meest” in L’viv and dispersed to Ukrainian charity relief organizations who will distribute these packages throughout Ukraine.

“It was great to see the packages getting ready for shipment at the loading dock, to think they could be on the plane heading over tonight is amazing,” stated Dmytro Yaskal, Ukrainian born resident of Eastchester, volunteer who helped pack and drive the items. “After we left with the shipment more items came in, so we are boxing them up and will be heading back to Jersey so the items can get to those in need.”

While they are no longer accepting donated supplies, they encourage those who want to help to donate directly to Meest. (https://us.meest.com/humanitarian-aid-packages-for-ukraine) They have a fund to help offset the cost of shipping humanitarian supplies. Also Razom for Ukraine and Baranova27 are both working with charity organizations currently in Ukraine.

Meest offices in Europe, the USA and Canada accept humanitarian aid and then deliver it to Ukraine. As of March 14, they have delivered over 1500 tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. All the humanitarian aid that is delivered from the border is transferred over to the Lviv military administration, which then sorts and transfers it to charitable organizations and to everyone in need, throughout regions in Ukraine. Some of the organizations that will receive the aid are: Wings of Hope Charity Fund, Open Eyes Charity Foundation, Come Back Alive Charity Foundation, Charity Fund "Renaissance of Defenders of Ukraine," and the Lviv Regional Hospital of War Veterans.
Village Lutheran Church & The Chapel School is located at 172 White Plains Road in Bronxville, New York. For more information about The Chapel School, please call 914-337-3202 or visit the website at www.thechapelschool.org.