Overwhelmed by Support for the People of Ukraine in Woodstock

Monday, 7 March 2022 12:34

The City of Woodstock had four collection sites to drop off humanitarian aid for the people of Ukraine and all four were full and overflowing with supplies.

WOODSTOCK - Residents in the City of Woodstock went above and beyond donating, items to the people of Ukraine.

All of the blankets, clothing, food and other supplies are being sent to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Waterloo, they have a cargo plane lined up to deliver the items.

Irene Tiegs is a volunteer with St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church, she has been helping to organize the fundraiser in Woodstock. Tiegs herself, is also of Ukrainian descent. She says they had four places collecting items in Woodstock and all four were completely full.

"We took five SUV's full, plus a pickup truck full of food items, medical supplies, sanitary supplies, diapers, baby food, and other supplies to Waterloo. That is being shipped off this morning to Ukraine, we have a cargo plane in Toronto that is taking the supplies. The clothes, we have to pay to send, so we are going to keep them here to give to refugees when they get to Canada."

There are 1 million Ukrainian's living in Canada and the country is anticipating accepting many refugees in the coming months. St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church is one of the locations who will be welcoming refugees when they first arrive to Canada. Tiegs says they do not have any more free cargo planes to send, so right now, they are asking for monetary donations.

"The cargo planes that were doing this for free to send supplies can no longer do that for us, so right now we need monetary donations, because it cost too much to send stuff right now that we are not getting free cargo."

Food Basics in Woodstock provided a large donation as well of non perishable foods and are collecting toonies from customers to donate to the Red Cross to help the Ukrainian Humanitarian efforts. Tiegs says the staff at the four drop off locations have been very helpful as well. Items were donated at the Reeves Community Complex, Southside Aquatic Centre, Cowan Sportsplex and the Woodstock Museum. They had so many donations, that they are going to store some at those locations until refugees arrive in he country.

Main Street Storage in Woodstock has stepped up to store some of the clothing for free indefinitely. They will store the items for free until refugees arrive in the Country.

If you would like to make a monetary, you can do so through the Canada Ukraine Foundation online here, or through the Canadian Red Cross online here.