ELMA N.Y. (WIVB) – The head of a Western New York church is stepping up to help Ukrainian refugees. Saint Gabriel’s Parish in Elma raised thousands of dollars for those seeking shelter in Poland.
“There’s a strong Ukrainian community here in our city and they’re working hard to support their people,” said Fr. John Mitka from the church. “We’re just one little effort to help support these people at this particular time in their lives, while they’re going through really horrific war and so forth.”
“We are church, and Ukrainians’ church too. We all one body, When one member suffers, we’re all suffering,” he said. “And especially during this lent season, when Jesus is calling us to do something for others.”
When Fr. Walter Grabowski found out his niece and her husband, who live in Poland, needed supplies to help people in Ukraine, he turned to his parishioners, who donated without hesitation.
“Everything that we do to support the needy, people respond immediately,” he said. “They say Buffalo is the City of Good Neighbors.”
The church has collected around $25,000 dollars already, and donations keep coming in from across Western New York. Fr. Walter already wired the first round of donations to his niece in Przemyśl, Poland.
“My family lives on the borderline of Ukraine, and they do all kinds of help to those refugees, mothers, children, everybody,” Fr. Walter said. “Even sending stuff to Ukraine because they need things like medication and basic, basic things that we take for granted.”
The church is still accepting donations. For more information click here.