January 7, 2023 was our collection of household goods to aid Ukrainian refugee families within the Diocese of Springfield, MA.
Your generosity exceeded all expectations of what we thought we might collect to help families from Ukraine, who really needed everything from clothing to household linens to kitchen items.
Approximately 150 cars lined the street throughout the afternoon while volunteers loaded not one, but two trucks full of goods going straight to the people who needed them. We collected donations throughout the afternoon while several events started and ended at the XL Center (traffic!).
“Thank you for making St. Patrick-St. Anthony’s Church such a visible witness to Jesus’ call to serve those in such need.”
Sr. Ginny Sheehan, SNDdeN
Thank you from Pastor Vasily
Pastor Vasily reached out to express thanks to our community for such generous assistance.
A Network of Communities Helping
Sr. Ginny Sheehan, SNDdeN partnered with St. Mary’s Church in Longmeadow, MA in their support of the Sts. Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church in Chicopee, MA. Sr. Ginny, Anna Eddy, and a team of volunteers worked to make this collection a success.
Thank you from Sr. Ginny
Dear Parishioners and Friends of Parishioners,
How can we thank you enough for your efforts to clean out your homes and those of neighbors and even buy new items for our outstanding Ukrainian refugee collection drive held last Saturday. From what I understood, Channel 3 also heard about our project and folks were bringing items last minute for the second large moving van. The hours were supposed to be 11:30 – 2:30 on Saturday but items started arriving on Friday evening, carried over into Saturday morning, with cars lined up along Church Street before 11 a.m. as the donations filled the Urban Center foyer and a good part of Church Street sidewalks until 5:30 p.m. on Saturday!! Saturday was an explosion of donated goods and kindness.
We are grateful for those workers named and all who organized the “mission” weeks before Saturday’s collection. Starting with Father Mike who came out to say hello and remained with us all day and shared his muscle power! Bridget Frost, Trish Bowen, Marcella B and Karen Bing, Roger and Anna Eddy and Gary Bossak, who helped all day. Other helping hands included MaryCarol McGray and Fran D’Amico. There were several who came to donate and stayed to pitch in including Kevin and Chris McCann, Peg and Dan Lareau, and oh yes, the gentleman with the Notre Dame hat and sweatshirt with two daughters who went to East Catholic – all helped during the busiest time. There are so many moving stories from Saturday including Joe, a homeless man, who was waiting for the 4pm Mass, heard what we were doing and stayed with us for an hour waiting for the second truck to arrive and then jumped on the truck and pitched in until we were done loading. There were the men who dropped off earlier in the day and returned for the 4 p.m. Mass to find us loading the second truck and pitched in to help get the last items onto the truck.
Stacy, who volunteers in the office and made calls for us, plus the other donors who came in the morning, remained for a while and helped unload the “back up” of cars – there were so many and no time to write down names. If we missed anyone, our sincerest apologies.
So many thanked us for this important ministry. Even the children and parents attending Disney’s Princess Ice Show thanked us for doing this project though they could barely walk on the sidewalk in front of the Urban Center because it was filled with your generous donations. Cars passing by pulled over to say “thank you” for making visible the mission of St. Patrick-St. Anthony. You will be hearing more from Pastor Vasily on what the donations mean to the refugees and his church. Thank you for making St. Patrick-St. Anthony’s Church such a visible witness to Jesus’ call to serve those in such need.
A hundred thousand “thank you’s” and prayers for your thoughtfulness and generosity.
~ Anna & Roger Eddy and Sr. Ginny Sheehan, SND
