Donations go to Roma in Ukraine

Ukraine Family Connections Donates to Roma in Ukraine Today I met with a lovely Ukrainian woman who is here in NYC for a Holocaust Memorial at the United Nations. Yuliaand her son Fedor are here as representatives of the Roma ("Gypsies") of Ukraine. Along with the Jews, the Roma people were also targeted for extermination during Hitler's reign of terror in WWII. Today the Roma people are the poorest of the poor in Ukraine and still face persecution and discrimination. It was an honor to spend time with Yulia-- even though we struggled at times with our language barrier ( my Russian is very simplistic), I could easily see that Yulia is a lovely woman with a deep desire to help her people. Her foundation is working to create an orphanage, school and home for the elderly to serve the Roma people. Ukraine Family Connections donated two large bags of clothing and toys for Yuliato bring back to Ukraine. Here is a list of clothes that came from the generous families and corporations that have supported our ministry: 3 Veggie Tale sweat pant sets 5 Veggie Tale farmer jean and shirt sets 2 blue sweat pants 2 red sweat pants 1 farmer jean 1 set undershirt and underpants 5 short T-shirts 2 Winter hats 1 brown long sweater-- adult 1 long down ladies coat 1 down men's jacket 2 down children's jackets 3 children's sweaters 4 girls blouses 6 baby bottles Assorted stuffed animals, dolls and matchbox cars The Persecution of Non-Jewish Groups Jews were not the only victims of the Nazi regime in Germany. In keeping with their policy, the Nazis took action to suppress various racial and social groups and to remove them from society. The Sinti and Roma (the “Gypsies”) who lived in Germany were the main non-Jewish targets of the Nazi race theory. The disabled and mentally ill were perceived as a burden on German society, and as such were banished from it. In the late 1930s they were murdered under the guise of “euthanasia.” The Nazi list of “undesirables” included individuals and groups such as homosexuals, alcoholics, and homeless vagrants. Ideological opponents such as Communists or members of certain churches, were persecuted even if they were considered members of the “Aryan race.” Visit the UN Holocaust Remembrance Site Exibit Marking International Day of Commeration Documents Plight of Roma, Sinti

Send Packages to Ukraine with MEEST Long Island

Call Roman for a pickup at your home
Cell: 516 695 3561

Packing instructions:

1. Use sturdy cardboard boxes. You can make a box more sturdy by using a box within a box.
2. Be sure to pack your box full. Half empty boxes or ones with empty corners might not do well on their long journey.
3. If you need to fill up space, add foam peanuts or consider sending some light items like toilet paper or a roll of paper towels to fill the space. These items will be very appreciated

Remember:

1. Don't skimp on the packing tape. Tape your box and make sure all corners are covered with tape as well. Better to be safe than sorry.
2. Have your recipient's address ready. If the recipient also has a phone number, have that ready too.
3. Have your boxes packed, taped and ready for pickup when Roman arrives. He will weigh your packages and help you fill out the shipping forms. There is a small fee for pickups, but the convenience is well worth it.

Send a Food Package to the
Former Soviet Union through MEEST Boston
Visit the website to see all the options available

Donations Sent to Ukraine Jan 26, 2007

January 26, 2007
Ukraine Family Connections

visit our website: www.ukrainefamilyconnections.com

Thank you to everyone who has
donated clothing and toys to
Ukraine Family Connections

Today we sent 3 boxes with clothes to Ukraine.
Two large boxes were sent to Olesya Popova, President of St. Vincent De Paul in Ukraine. Olesya will distribute the items to various orphanages and needy families in the Kharkov region of Ukraine.The boxes were filled with warm winter clothes donated by friends and families of Ukraine Family Connections. The third box had clothes, food and school supplies for a impoverished family in a remote village outside of Kharkov.

When we receive donations, everything gets sorted by size and season. Items that might need to be washed are washed and ironed if necessary. We want the children to recieve everything looking like new.

When we prepare the items for shipping, everything is counted and cataloged.
Below you can see the list that was sent in this shipment.


We recently received a huge donation of brand new clothes from God4Me.com through the Karen Orlando Ministry. Karen Orlando has had a long standing friendship with some of the founders of God4Me.com. When she told them about our work with the orphans in Ukraine, they generously donated boxes and boxes of wonderful clothing from their online store.

We received so much that we have been able to share with them with other worthy causes. Today we gave a bag of clothes to Caren Peet a local social worker who sends clothes to orphans in Africa and China on a regular basis. Caren also donated a box with warm hats and gloves a box full of baby bottles to Ukraine Family Connections. We will be sending them to Ukraine for distribution to single moms and Baby Orphanages.

Also special thanks to the Bayshore Toy R Us who donated beautiful Diego and Dora stuffed dolls. We sent 10 of these dolls in this shipment today.

The boxes were picked up by Roman, our local Meest representative.
Roman and his wife Yulia have been coming to our house for the past year, picking up packages destined for Ukraine. They are a wonderful couple who have been so helpful to us. I highly recommend using Meest for sending packages to the former Soviet Union and I am happy to report we have had great success with all our boxes ariving safely to their destination.

Today we sent 118 pounds of clothes, toys and food.

To send packages to the former USSR
contact Roman and Yulia of Meest Long Island---
cell phone: 516-695-3561

Roman will come to your house and pick up your package for a small fee.
The box will be delivered to the door of the recipient in Ukraine or other
locations in the former USSR. It is helpful to have the recipient's phone number-- if there is one.

To see all the locations that Meest will ship to visit: http://www.meestboston.com/parcels.asp
Be sure to use very strong cardboard boxes. Pack them fully-- no soft corners or half empty boxes. They have to stand up to wear and tear along the way. Use lots of packing tape.
Shipping options-- 2 weeks by air-- or 6-8 weeks by sea.

Here is the list of clothes
that went in the two boxes to Olesya Popova:
1 adult Ski jacket
1 grey fleece pullover
1 sports pullover
1 baseball shirt
1 green fleece pullover
1 grey zipper sweeat shirt jacket
1 carpenter blue jeans
3 white tshirts
1 black sweat pants
CHILRENS CLOTHING:
3 hooded pullover sweatshirts
1 pair of jeans
1 red sweat shirt
1white zipper sweat shirt
1 red toddler ski jacket
6 girls fleece jackets
3 sweat shirts
1 zipper jacket
1 purple ski jacket
3 fleece pajamas-with feet
2 thermal pajamas sets
4 long sleved girls turtle necks
hat and glove set
8 baby one-zies
3 girls stretch pants
1 toddler windbreaker w/pants
6 children's tshirts
1 velour vest
3 long sleve pullover shirts
1 zip sweat jacket
1 small girls sweater
2 pairs white socks
64 pencils
5 sets of girls poneytail bands
1 barbie slippers
1 todler slippers
9 sweaters
1 zip jacket
2 girls ski pants
1 ski jacket
1 pink fleece pajama set
4 toddler girls blouses
5 Diego Stuffed Dolls
5 Dora Stuffed Dolls
10 Veggie Tales sweatpant sets