Knights of Columbus all over the world stand in solidarity, ready to support the 2,000 Knights and their families, the Church, and all in need in Ukraine.
To date, our members and friends have donated $20,027,693.
As the situation in Ukraine continues to change, the need to support refugees continues to grow. The Knights of Columbus continue to work with our councils in Poland and Ukraine, the Latin and Greek Catholic Churches, and partner NGOs to provide temporary shelter, food, medical supplies, clothing, religious supplies, and other humanitarian needs as identified as the situation continues to change.
100% of your donation goes directly to support those affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
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If you need to reach the Office of Charitable Giving regarding this fund or making a donation, you can do so Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00am to 4:30pm Eastern at 1-800-694-5713 or info@kofccharities.org.
Supreme Knight Kelly’s five-day trip to Poland and Ukraine includes meetings with Polish president, Church leaders, local Knights and displaced families.
Archbishop William Lori met with Knights of Columbus, Church leaders and displaced families in Poland and Ukraine Oct. 1-4. During the visit, he helped distribute aid to refugees from the war in Ukraine and witnessed ongoing humanitarian efforts aided by the Order’s Ukraine Solidarity Fund — including initiatives of the Greek- and Latin-rite Churches in Ukraine and an orphanage run by the Archdiocese of Częstochowa, Poland.
The cities of Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine, and Irpin, near Kyiv, were both devastated by the Russian invasion. Knights of Columbus from Blessed Mykolay Charnetsky Council 16890 in Irpin recently stepped in to help residents with donations of food, medicine and more.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February, more than 100 children from the cities of Myrne and Melitopol were relocated to a retreat center outside Częstochowa, Poland. With financial assistance from the Knights of Columbus, the local branch of the international charitable organization Caritas now operates the center as an orphanage, offering love, safety and stability to refugee children who have lost everything. Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly visited the home and spent time with the children there during Holy Week of 2022.
Knights of Columbus in Poland held the country’s first Coats for Kids event Oct. 1, during Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori’s recent visit there. With winter quickly approaching, many Ukrainian refugee children need new coats, which Archbishop Lori helped to distribute at a home for children outside Częstochowa.
Szymon Czyszek, Knights of Columbus Director for International Growth in Europe, saw an immediate need to provide humanitarian aid into Ukraine. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Knights of Columbus has been sending goods and supplies to families in need through our Charity Convoy. Close to one million pounds of food has been delivered to Ukrainian families through this charitable mission.
Petro and Oksana Galuga left their home in Kyiv when Russia’s attacks began on Feb. 24, and traveled to Lviv, more than 500 km (300 miles) to the west. Oksana, who has struggled with health issues, continued to Warsaw, Poland, where the older of their two sons has been studying for several years. Petro, the state secretary of the Knights of Columbus in Ukraine, remained to help coordinate the Order’s humanitarian work while serving with State Deputy Yuriy Maletskiy on the Anti-Crisis Committee formed by the Archdiocese of Lviv. The couple reflects on their marriage, their months apart, and their response to the crisis in their homeland.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, recently led a delegation that included representatives of the archdiocese and the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA), for which he serves as chairman, to Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. During the trip, His Eminence visited with displaced Ukrainians and praised the humanitarian efforts of the Knights of Columbus and other Catholic organizations. On May 2, he celebrated Mass at the Order’s Mercy Center in Hrebenne — at the Polish-Ukrainian border — and visited the Mercy Center at St. Klemens Hofbauer Parish in Warsaw. Both centers are operated in partnership with CNEWA.
Danylo and Alexander Fedoryka, members of John Carrell Jenkins Council 7771 in Front Royal, Va., grew up in an American household rooted in Ukrainian traditions. Their first language was Ukrainian, and the name of the band they founded some 20 years ago, Scythian, is a nod to the ancient nomadic empire of Scythia, a vast region that included modern-day Ukraine. On Feb. 26, the band performed a live streamed concert to raise support for the Order’s Ukraine Solidarity Fund.
Włodzimierz and Edyta Stec of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, in central Poland, volunteered to take in refugees and soon welcomed a family from Kremenchuk, in central Ukraine — Alina and her three sons, 2-year-old Zahar, 6-year-oldMakar and 9-year-old Maksym.
When Adam Weigel-Milleret arrived at his office in Igołomia, Poland, on Feb. 24, he learned about the invasion of Ukraine from one of his employees, Oleh, a native of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine. Weigel told his employee that if his family evacuated, they would have a place to stay in the housing unit at the company’s headquarters. Since then, the Knights of Columbus has opened up the facility to 39 Ukrainian refugees.
Millions of refugees who fled Ukraine have found themselves in foreign countries unsure of their future. Knights in Poland have mobilized to welcome families at the border, at parishes and in their homes.
Supreme Knight Kelly then traveled to Poland to visit with Knights serving refugees and helped load Easter care packages onto the latest “K of C Charity Convoy” of trucks bringing supplies into Ukraine. The supreme knight proceeded to visit the Order’s Mercy Center in Hrebenne, then crossed the border into Ukraine, delivering additional Easter care packages to families taking refuge at a 14th-century monastery in Rava Ruska, in the Archdiocese of Lviv, Ukraine.
Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly visited a retreat center outside of Częstochowa, Poland, that now serves as an orphanage for approximately 100 Ukrainian children displaced by the war. After visiting the center, which is operated by Caritas of Częstochowa and supported by the Order’s Ukraine Solidarity Fund, the supreme knight visited St. Wojciech Parish in Częstochowa, where he greeted refugees at the parish’s Knights of Columbus Mercy Center and met with members of the Poland State Council.
On Monday, April 11, Pope Francis blessed a very special Easter basket during a private audience granted to Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and his family at the Vatican. The Easter basket is representative of the 10,000 Easter care packages assembled by Knights of Columbus in Poland in recent days, which will be distributed to displaced families in Ukraine during.
The Knights of Columbus in Poland recently established several parish-based Mercy Centers to support the needs of Ukrainian refugees and welcome them into the community.
Supreme Knight Kelly also calls on Knights worldwide to pray for peace and stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
Knights of Council 16848 in Zolochiv, Ukraine won the Life Award in 2020. See the impact our brothers in Ukraine make in their local community.
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Knights of Columbus around the world are committed to serving their families, parishes and communities especially when it matters most.