Hundreds of boxes of supplies, bound for Ukraine and its people, are being shipped out of a Barrie church this weekend.
Boxes of clothing, towels, bedding, blankets, hygiene products, baby formula, diapers and food are being moved out of St. John Vianney Parish. Their destination is Poland, and then war-torn Ukraine.
Since the Russian invasion began Feb. 24, Canadians have gathered goods to send overseas.
“It’s a big tragedy. For Ukrainian Canadians it’s been a hard time for us,” said Alex Konstantinovski, helping move boxes at the Innisfil Street church Friday evening. “Probably the hardest time in my entire life. At the same time we’re happy we’re able to use our strength and our dedication to support those in our home country as much as we could.
“Canadians across the country are trying to help us with this drive.”
Konstantinovski is from Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, but came to Canada 22 years ago. He has lived in Barrie since 2014.
He said once the boxes reach Poland, volunteers reload them onto trailers and the ground transportation takes them across the border into Ukraine. Through distributing centres, another group of volunteers is responsible for collecting the items and sending them through multiple channels to different regions, cities and towns in Ukraine, Konstantinovski said.
“It’s not perfect and the one good reason it’s not very well organized is security,” he said quietly. “We don’t want the enemy to know how this distribution system works.”
Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced during the Russian invasion, and Konstantinovski said they need Canadians’ help.
“There are three million people along the border, refugees, in the war zone where they came from,” he said. “They live now in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, those four countries, those bordering countries with Ukraine. Three million Ukrainians who have fled the war zone.”
While many of the donated goods came from Barrie residents, people in Orillia, Washago, Oro-Medonte Township, Midhurst, Innisfil, Angus and Bradford, among others, have also chipped in to help Ukrainians.
“This is to help them right away,” Konstantinovski said. “This shipment goes right to Ukraine.”
