It’s been two weeks since the war in Ukraine began. Help for Ukrainians is coming from all sides. The Jesuits are also involved in it, coordinated by the team „Jesuit Aid for Ukraine” led by fr. Vitaliy Osmolovskyy SJ.
The priority for our team is to deliver aid to Ukraine. We have supported works run by Jesuits: a refugee house in Lviv and a house in Khmelnytskyi, which is now a stopping point for refugees, and we have also given support to institutions that are our friends: a refugee house in Zhytomyr and an orphanage in Sambor run by the Franciscan Sisters. We have also organized a transport connection with Lviv. Our minibus will regularly take there necessary things and while coming back, bring refugees. Tonight the first transport left Poland. At the same time, the Lviv branch of Jesuit Refugee Service asked us to fund a bus for them and thanks to help of other organizations we managed to do it.
We have also contact with organizations from other countries, which help Ukraine. We have helped several of them to deliver large humanitarian transports to the appropriate places on the border. And in Krakow, at the request of the American team „Operation White Stork”, which is transporting medical aid, we provided storage space and several rooms. We are very happy to cooperate with other organizations, because through small favors on our part we can multiply aid flowing to Ukraine.
In Poland we are mainly involved in the process of organizing accommodation for refugees. First of all, it means preparing rooms and gathering the necessary equipment, as well as collecting funds. These activities are undertaken by Jesuit communities and parishes locally, as well as by the Jesuit Social Center „In Action”. Communities and parishes in Bytom, Gliwice, Gdynia, Falenica, Nowy Sącz, and Warsaw have already received refugees, which was possible thanks to the quick mobilization and generosity of parishioners.
JCS „In Action” is a ministry with many years of experience in working with refugees, and as such has become a central hub for coordinating refugee assistance in the Polish Provinces of the Society of Jesus. The staff of the center have set up a form, through which people and institutions willing to accept refugees can register. They also provide information on how to do this efficiently, and what is current legal framework of it. In cooperation with „Caritas”, the center has opened a reception point at the border in Zosin. Currently JCs is working on establishing an information point in Dolhobyczow. At the same time JCS „In Action” is constantly sending new transports with aid to Ukraine. The activities of the center could not cover such a large area, if not for the many people who have volunteered to work there.
In addition to providing basic security, there are of course many other needs that we try to meet. In Warsaw and Poznań psychological assistance for refugees has been organized. In Opole a meeting place for Ukrainian children and mothers has been opened. Our team has also begun to raise funds for scholarships for Ukrainian students. This goal is supported by Jesuit schools in the west.
We are aware that this is only the beginning of a huge undertaking, which is to provide help in Ukraine and welcome refugees in Poland. For this reason, we are continually raising funds and asking for your support.
Bank account number (PLN):
Towarzystwo Jezusowe
Mały Rynek 8, 31-041 Kraków
65 1600 1013 1846 5651 7000 0016
„JEZUICKA POMOC DLA UKRAINY”
Kod SWIFT: PPABPLPK
IBAN/BIC: PL65 1600 1013 1846 5651 7000 0016
Bank account in EUR and USD:
https://www.wakcji.org/wspieraj-nas/#przelew
“Jesuit Aid for Ukraine” team:
Vitaliy Osmolovskyy SJ, coordinator
tel. +48 517 978 549
+380 96 806 1126 – whatsapp, viber, telegram
<[email protected]>
Damian Czerniak SJ, responsible for aid for refugees in Northern Polish Province
tel. +48 797 907 593 – whatsapp
<[email protected]>
Łukasz Lewicki SJ, director of JCS “In Action”
tel. +48 797 907 588 <[email protected]>
sch. Krzysztof Dudek SJ, responsible for contact with media
tel. +48 797 907 848 <[email protected]>.
Jerzy Zadwórny SJ, Jesuit working on Ukraine, responsible for contact with the team
tel. +38 097 159 36 47 <[email protected]>
