Humanitarian--Ukraine--Ronald McDonald House Charities TWO NEW ROOMS!

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints partnered with Ronald McDonald House Charities in funding to construct two new rooms in children's hospitals in two Ukrainian cities, one in Dnipro and one in Rivne. These rooms will target families traveling from distant locations for medical care​. Each room is estimated to serve 11,000 individuals per year​. 

RMHC has partnered with the furniture store JYSK, who will provided the furnishings for these rooms, and they have secured funding for ongoing operational costs​.

Ronald McDonald House Charities is an international NGO whose mission is to provide support to families of sick children who are receiving medical care away from home​. RMHC operates in 65 countries around the world and, since 1974, has served millions of people globally. RMHC currently operates in Ukraine but with 28 hospitals on their waiting list, there is a shortage of family housing in the country.

Humanitarian---Red Cross of Lithuania

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated medicine, including prescription medicine, to the Red Cross in Lithuania. The Red Cross loaded a truck and delivered 23 pallets of medicine to Ukraine. The medicine arrived at the Red Cross in 3 locations; Sumy, Liman, and Lviv. 

The goal of the Red Cross is to have a constant supply for medical supplies and medicines for Ukraine.

Missionaries in Vilnius, Lithuania

Castle: The complex consisted of three castles: the Upper, the Lower, and the Crooked. The Crooked Castle was burned down by the Teutonic Knights in 1390 and was never rebuilt. The Vilnius Castles were attacked several times by the Teutonic Order after 1390, but they did not succeed in taking the entire complex. Its complete capture occurred for the first time during the1655 Battle of Vilnius. Soon afterwards, the severely damaged castles lost their importance, and many buildings were abandoned. During the Tsarist annexation, several historic buildings were demolished; many more were damaged during the fortress construction in the 19th century.

Gate of Dawn: 

It was built between 1503 and 1522 as a part of defensive fortifications for the city of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It has also been known as the Medininkai Gate, Of ten city gates, only the Gate of Dawn remains, while the others were destroyed by the order of the government at the end of the 18th century.

 

Humanitarian--Estonia, Red Cross Helping with Refugees

The Estonia Government is leasing the Isabelle Cruise line from the company Tallink. This Cruise line is docked in the Tallinn harbor. It is a home to 1,600 refugees from Ukraine and Russia. 

There is a nurse's station on the ship. Those who are sick and need medical attention visit the nurse. She/He will assess the situation and prescribe medicines for the patients. 

The patient then goes to the Red Cross Pharmacy on board the ship.

The nurse's office is open 5 days a week and serves about 20 patients per day.

The Estonian Red Cross then fills the prescriptions. These medicines are over the counter medication. They are given only what they need.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has provided medicines for this pharmacy. 

The pharmacy is open 1 day a week, but hopes to open for more days.

Challenges at the start of the Ukraine/Russian crisis:

For the first 2 months after February 24, 2022 the refugees had influenza and diarrhea. All the refugees either had COVID vaccinations or received them when they entered the ships. 

Some of the refugees sought shelter in local hotels, but as the summer tourist season started, they either moved on or they are residences on "the Isabelle." 

As of July, the ship is calm. The children were able to enroll in the Public School system for their education from February to June.

The rooms are small but adequate. The refugees store their luggage in the gated shops.

There is a place by the entrance for strollers and bikes. There are several locked up stores that are housing food storage. 

There is a cafeteria.

The children have lounges and cafeteria places to go to play games, socialize, and group activities.

There is an information desk with 2 assistances for those need help. 

There are many volunteers helping in different capacities to make this transition as smooth as possible.

The government is trying to find apartments so the ship can be used for the tourist season. Apartments are hard to come by in Estonia so it makes the refugees a little uneasy with what is going to happen to them in the future. 

The people living on the ship can come and go as they like with their own special card. Outsiders have to have special permission to enter the ship. There is a security check point. There are regular busses that stop at the harbor to take the people into the city. 

The harbor is within walking distance to Old Tallinn and malls.  

The nurses are now concerned about the coming of fall and the sicknesses that follow. 

The Estonian Red Cross would like to have a good supply of medicines and vaccines available.

PHOTO: Elder and Sister Blau, Head of Pharmacy on ship, 2 representatives from Estonia RED CROSS

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

1894–1900, when the country was part of the Russian Empire. The cathedral is Tallinn's largest orthodox church. It is dedicated to the grand prince of Kiev, and later Saint Alexander Nevsky who in 1242 won the Battle of the Ice on Lake Peipus, near the present-day border between Estonia and Russia.  The cathedral was built in the 19th century and was so disliked by the Estonians as a symbol of oppression that the Estonian authorities scheduled it to be demolished in 1924, but was never implemented because of lack of funds and because of the massive construction.

Humanitarian--Pazardzhik, Bulgaria ADRA

 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  helped fund a new clinic in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria partnering with ADRA of Bulgaria

This project is now providing long term services including a general practitioner on duty, dental services, psycho-social specialists, a social room for trainings, seminars, lectures, social activities of the community and a hot kitchen to support the poorest and neediest of the local population. 

This clinic is a free clinic for those who do not have insurance. The doctors, nurses, assistants, and staff will be paid by the government. Volunteers will also help in the clinic and support.

 

There are social rooms for the community to gather, group therapy, and even teaching musical instruments. ADRA set aside one room to package essential oils, honey and other health products to help offset operating costs. 

Social Media

Open house Ceremony: June 16, 2022

Humanitarian -- Estonia Food Bank in Tallinn LDS Charities help Ukraine and refugees

LDS Charities provided the Estonia Food Bank to purchase food for Ukraine. 

Once a month, when purchased food comes to the warehouse, located in Tallinn, the food is loaded on trucks, driven to Ukraine and dropped off at a hub in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Estonia food bank also provides for the Ukrainian refugees who have fled Ukraine and are residing in Tallinn and surrounding communities.

Estonia Food Bank helps the vulnerable population through other donations:

The Food Bank owns trucks that deliver food to other Charities such as: The Children's Shelters, Elderly Home Care facilities, and homeless shelters.

They also deliver outside of Tallinn to 15 other cities and villages. Volunteers from other cities and villages sometimes drive to Tallinn and pick up food for those who are at home and not able to leave.

The Food Bank works with the Social Workers of the city. Each day a list of recipients is provided for those who are in need of food assistance. Once a week the recipients get 2 bags of food. One bag of nonperishable items, and the other bag of fruits, vegetables, milk and meats. If the family has more than 4 people they receive 4 bags. If the family has small children, diapers, baby care items, and baby food are provided.

The food bank is open from 8:00 AM to 10:00PM. Ukrainian refugees come from 6:00PM-10:00PM.

Local food merchants drop off "day old produce" in the evening, also canned goods from Monday through Friday. The volunteers and workers go through each item to make sure it is fresh. If an item has expired then the food bank throws it out. 

The warehouse is constantly busy with workers and volunteers. The Food Bank has 5 employees and over 50 volunteers. They work in shifts.

Estonia Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints volunteer once a week at the Food Bank. 

The Food Bank has many local donors besides the grocery stores. Food is donated by larger businesses, private individuals, and local merchants. LDS Charities has been helping Estonia for several years. The government provides the list of people to the Social Workers, and money to help fund the warehouse. 

The Food Bank just had a campaign for the Refugees and placed boxes and signs out during  the months of April and May. The campaign ended but people still come and donate to the cause. 

Because of the crisis in Eastern Europe food prices have risen significantly. It is difficult for the director to negotiate prices with organizations outside of Estonia. Food takes a while to be delivered. Sometimes their warehouse is almost empty, then a shipment comes in and they are full again. In one week over 10,000 recipients are benefiting from the Food Bank.

Latvia, Our New Home (Riga, Capitol of Latvia)

We left Germany the 10th of May. We were in a hotel for 71 days. We were just about to move into an apartment when we got the call to serve in Latvia, one of our countries for humanitarian. 

With all the big changes we were excited to go but hated to leave the beautiful country of Germany.

Photo taken in Michelstadt, Germany, one of my favorite fairy tale cities. Other favorites were Mespelbrunn, Miltenburg, Karlsruhe, Lindau, and of course the old part of Frankfurt. 
 

We were able to visit our foreign exchange student, Joy, and her family in Switzerland. We hosted her in Arizona during her Junior Year in high school. 

Riga, was the first city we were called to. However, as we were preparing, our calling was changed to Humanitarian in Belarus. We never made it to Latvia until now. 

St. Gertrude's Church is located at the end of our block. This is a photo from the front of our apartment. The church has a history of being built and rebuilt 7 times of either stone or wood. Each invasion, from different countries, during its history destroyed this church. Russia was the only country that did not destroy the church but stole the organ and bells and took them back to Russia. 1866-1869 was the last construction built in stone and brick. 

By the start of the twentieth century St Gertrude's recorded more than 30,000 church members, meeting as three distinct congregations.

The German congregation and the Latvian congregation alternated their services between Sunday morning and Sunday afternoons, and a second Latvian congregation worshipped on Sunday evenings. From 1903 to 1906 a second church was built, now known as St Gertrude New Church, and became the center of the Latvian congregations, leaving Old St Gertrude's as the German-speaking church for Riga.

Wood architecture in Riga was popular and built until the start of World War II. Less than a century ago, there were around 12,000 wooden buildings in Riga, of which approximately 4,000 have survived to this day, the oldest of which was built at the end of the 18th century.

The architecture in Riga is fascinating. Each building is different and has unique window fames, doors, and roof lines. There are many colors of buildings. Each street has their own style between Soviet times and modern. The bottom floors are usually shops, restaurants, convenient stores, or clothing. 

We are starting to use the bus system to get around, but most everything we need is within walking distance. 

Humanitarian---Ukraine

                                            Food Delivered in Ukraine for those that are in need.

      Food is separated and put into food bags by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

                                                                      72-Hour Kits

                Food is distributed around Ukraine to various organizations and families.

Kharkiv--written by Aleksey Tkachenko our Humanitarian Manager in Ukraine

"One Kharkiv citizen was very surprised when he saw a can of stew in a package with help. Then we heard repeatedly surprises from the products. In fact, humanitarian aid is not giving away a packet of macaroni and sugar with flour. This is about care and dignity even (or especially! ) in the terms of war.

We wouldn't have collected nearly 8 tons of humanitarian aid without our friends.

This is what we received and brought to Kharkiv:

- Rice - 400 kg

⁃ Buckwheat - 400 kg

⁃ Zucchini caviar - 200 cans

⁃ Canned corn - 200 cans

⁃ Beef stew - 400 cans

⁃ Sardine in oil - 400 cans

⁃ Sunflower oil - 200 bottles.

The joy of Kharkiv residents is hard to convey in these photos.

For real. Because everything was clear in their eyes, exhausted by the Russian navalo ю and at the same time full of hope and faith in our victory.

Thank you, friends, for your good heart and support of Kharkiv!

We are getting closer to victory together"