Many Americans are concerned about Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, and that concern extends to the Saucon Valley, where a special prayer service for the wartorn nation and its people will be held this Friday, March 11, at Hellertown’s Detwiller Plaza.
Sponsored by the Hellertown Area Ministerium–a consortium of local churches–the Prayer Service for Ukraine will be held at 7 p.m. next to the plaza clock tower.
Attendees are asked to bring a candle to light during the service.
Hellertown Mayor David Heintzelman announced the details for the event during Monday night’s borough council meeting, during which council also heard about an effort to collect donations for the millions of Ukrainians whose lives are now shattered by war.
Borough resident Bob Pasternak told council the Saucon Valley Community Center, Saucon Valley Elementary School and retired Saucon Valley teacher Vivian Demko, 1045 Detweiler Avenue, are all currently collecting items for the victims of the war in Ukraine.
Pasternak, whose family is currently hosting a Ukrainian exchange student named Jack, said he also received permission to collect “supplies and needed items” (see below for a list of what is needed) at Saucon Valley High School and expects additional donation points to be set up at Saucon Valley Middle School and the Hellertown Area Library (monetary donations only).
On Tuesday it was announced that Yeager’s Pharmacy at 654 Main Street in Hellertown is also serving as a collection point.
Cash donations as well as checks made out to Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church in Easton can also be dropped off at the collection points, he said, after which they will be taken to the church, packaged and prepared for shipment to Ukraine. Parishioners will be packing the donated items and shipping them to Ukraine through MEEST, a company that ships items to eastern Europe.
“My family and I have hosted six Ukrainian exchange students,” Pasternak said, three of whom have joined the millions of refugees fleeing to other parts of Europe from Ukraine over the past two weeks.
Another exchange student, Artem, is currently a college student in New York City, he said.
“His parents do not want him to return home while the war is going, so Hellertown will be his home when he is not in college. Jack’s plans for next year are undecided at the present time,” Pasternak added.
Heintzelman asked Jack, who was also at the council meeting, to consider attending Friday’s candlelight service and possibly speak to what is happening in his homeland.
The Pasternaks’ exchange student in 2003 has been in touch with the family since the war began and reached out to share what fleeing the bombing with his two young daughters was like.
“‘The trip was so exhausting,'” said Pasternak, reading from a message the man had just sent him. “‘We drove 15 hours and passed 40 checkpoints and then we slept the whole night for the first time in 10 days. Just in the hour after we left our village a few bombs or missiles exploded there. A few of the homes were destroyed, some of them burned and three children were killed.’ So that’s what’s going on there from someone who’s going through it.”
“They are one strong set of people,” said Heintzelman. “Let’s hope that there can be more of a positive outcome for everybody.”
“Words can’t describe what the Ukrainian people are going through right now,” added council president Tom Rieger. “If we can do something, we should.”
Rieger said the borough would help publicize the collection drive and also volunteered the Borough Hall lobby to serve as a collection point.
ITEMS NEEDED BY THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE DURING THE WAR
PRIORITY ITEMS: First aid items and men’s clothing
MEN’S: Clothing and boots (sizes 9-12), clothing, thermal underwear, blankets, linens, tactical backpacks
FIRST AID ITEMS: First aid kits, different sized gauze pads, adhesive tape, band-aids in several sizes, ace wrap bandages, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, tweezers, scissors, alcohol wipes and combat-application tourniquets (available on Amazon)
WOMEN’S: Boots (sizes 7-10), hygiene products, urological pads
CHILDREN’S: Boots (all sizes), diapers
MISCELLANEOUS: Lanterns, stand-alone lamps, portable chargers, candles
COMMUNICATION NEEDS: Mobile phones, walkie-talkies, radio receivers
