The St. Peter the Apostle Parish community is assisting the people of Ukraine, who continue to suffer terribly as a result of the ongoing war initiated by Russia.
From Jan. 28 through Feb. 5, the parishioners of St. Peter joined with the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey in collecting much-needed items for the Ukrainian people.
Parishioners were told to bring their donations to St. Peter’s Church Narthex and leave them in the box marked “UACCNJ COLLECTION,” and bring they did — in abundance. Donna Ferguson, a pastoral associate of St. Peter’s, said, “The Ukraine collection surpassed our expectations. The hope was to collect at least 3–4 boxes of much-needed items to give to the Ukraine Center. To our surprise, we filled 24 boxes with hats, socks, gloves, hand warmers, sleeping bags, thermal clothing, cold medicine, and warm winter coats.”
New items were requested, and that included thermal underclothes and warm socks, sleeping bags for warmth in the up to -10 degrees temperatures, hand warmers, hiking boots and winter coats of all types and sizes, flashlights, as well as Tylenol and Advil, and non-liquid cold medicines.
The parish got involved when a parishioner and one of the HomeBound Visitation ministers, Marie Kotlarchuk, approached Ferguson about possibly holding a coat drive for Ukraine. Father David Pickens, the pastor of St. Peter’s, approved the collection.
“Marie and I sorted through the donations, organized by item, and boxed and labeled the contents for an easy transition to the UACCNJ. Within days, the shipment was on its way to Ukraine. Father Sylwester Pierzak, Marie, Gabby Andrade, and Marie’s son Eugene loaded the truck and transported everything over to the center in Whippany.”
From there, the UACCNJ provided air transportation for the items to be delivered to Ukraine, where soldiers were awaiting the delivery and extended their gratitude.
According to Ferguson, the effort says a lot about St. Peter’s parishioners. “The parishioners of St. Peter the Apostle Parish are an extremely generous community. It personifies the loving, spiritual community we represent as Catholics.”
Father Pickens added, “The people of St. Peter the Apostle Parish always respond generously when asked to help our sisters and brothers in need. I was overwhelmed by the support for the Ukraine collection. We use one of our confessionals to store items when we have special collections. With the Ukraine collection, the confessional overflowed with donations. I am also grateful for the parishioners who volunteered their time to help sort, pack, and deliver the items.”
If anyone is interested in helping the UACCNJ and the Ukrainian citizens, visit uaccnj.org for more details.