Riverhead Ukrainian Church Gives Updates On Donations Needed

RIVERHEAD, NY — When the cry for help was sounded, the community turned out in a big way, hosting donation drives and other efforts to get supplies to war-torn Ukraine.

But now, at least one church is bursting at the seams and has asked that donations consist of medicine and medical supplies only.

As of March 18, St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Riverhead said due to many overstocked items, only the medical supplies can be accepted currently.

"We will resume our regular collection as soon as we get the go ahead from our shipping company," a message to the community said.

When news of the invasion broke, the Rev. Bohdan Hedz of the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church spoke to Patch. Hedz said he and his parish will continue their efforts to help their friends and family back in Ukraine. "Since 2014, when the whole situation unraveled in the Ukraine, our parish has been very proactive in sending humanitarian aid."

Financial help is also needed to send the packages overseas, he said.

His ties to Ukraine are deeply personal, Hedz said: Both his mother, and his wife's mother, father, sister and brother are living in Ukraine.

"It's frightening," he said.

His own mother, 67, will not leave, Hedz said.
"My mom is a tough cookie, and I'm not joking," he said. While she has a visa and Hedz told her she will always have a place in the United States with him and his family, she refused. "She said 'no,'" he said. "I asked, 'What are you going to do?' She said, 'If I need to bear arms, I'm going to fight,'" he said. "She's my mother and I know her. I wouldn't expect anything less."

Hedz said he was incredulous that in the 21st century, the second-largest country in Europe next to Russia, with 40 million-plus residents, was under attack.

"The world is already not the same," he said.

Mass is being held daily at the church, at 820 Pond View Road, every day at 9 a.m. Donations of medicine, and also monetary contributions, can be sent to that address, Hedz said.