On the evening of December 8, the community of Samaritans of the Jurbarka region sent the second minibus with a support package to Vinnytsia region in Ukraine. Warm clothes, food, medical supplies will go directly to the front, some of the items will be distributed to civilians. The snow that mixed the sky with the ground last Thursday only strengthened the feeling of how necessary and important the joint work of the Samaritans and the international support fund “Glory to Heroes” is. According to Kristina Vančienė, chairwoman of the Jurbarkas Samaritan community, the support fund discovered Jurbarkas through the Lithuanian Samaritans organization. Eugenijus Bulgakovas, the representative of this foundation who came to Jurbarkas, is a Ukrainian living in Lithuania. Vinica was not chosen by chance, because Eugenij comes from this region, Žmerynka, which is primarily reached by the transport support, because it is not always possible to get directly to Vinica due to active hostilities. Ukrainians gathered in this support fund are constantly transporting the collected support to the Vinnytsia region.
Kartu su Eugenijumi į Jurbarką atvykęs fondui talkinantis kėdainiškis Nerijus Sabulis sako, kad ši veikla įsibėgėjo nuo pat karo pradžios. Rinkti paramą jiems padeda Caritas, bažnyčios, samariečiai, aukoja kiti žmonės. Mikroautobusas prie samariečių būstinės Kauno gatvėje, kaip ir lapkričio 18-ąją, sparčiai pilnėjo dėžėmis su slaugai skirtomis priemonėmis.
According to E. Bulgakov, these are worth gold in the war zone. On two occasions, the Samaritans sent over a hundred boxes of various care items – diapers, lignin, sterile kits for dressing wounds. Warm sweaters for soldiers, t-shirts, food packages, thermal cups also went to Vinica. “We also put in a lot of food for babies, we collected a lot of warm, high-quality clothes for civilians – children and adults,” said K. Vančienė, the chairperson of the Samaritan community of Jurbarka region. Jurbarka Samaritan Community will continue to collect support for Ukraine. “We have permanent helpers. Our fellow Berlin policemen help us a lot, we have received donations from Norwegians, we cooperate a lot with Manvesta, Jurbarkas Honorary Citizen von Šteten donated 1,000 euros, we get the understanding of many people”, says K. Vančienė. The Samaritans of Jurbarka started collecting support for the Ukrainians fighting for their country from the first days of the war. On February 27 of this year, just three days after Russia attacked Ukraine, the Samaritans called for food donations. “During this action, we collected 1.5 tons of various non-perishable food products and sent them to Ukraine through the same support fund,” K. Vančienė remembers the days of the beginning of the war, which shocked the entire civilized, democratic world. The Samaritans took care of the war refugees who arrived and are now helping the Ukrainians staying in Jurbark and the area. “We fed everyone who came in our canteen, we prepared food rations and now we are preparing them for Ukrainians who have problems. Ukrainian women come to our exchange point and choose their clothes and shoes free of charge. While working in this direction, we were supported by the Stiliaus store, the owners of the “Agotas” store helped”, says the chairman of the Samaritan community of the Jurbarka region about the constant work in caring for war refugees. This concern does not subside, as does the need for it. A significant number of refugees who chose Jurbarkas are families of men working at UAB “Manvesta” – it is easier for them. However, a significant number of those who arrived are women who survived the devastating war, single mothers, grandmothers with children. Their houses are under ruins, burned, looted. The Ukrainian Tatiana, who settled in the house of K. Vančienė, no longer has her home in the Donetsk region. The woman, like many war refugees, has nowhere to return. “Tatjana is our volunteer, she is happy to take on all the jobs, but the Samaritan community cannot hire her, we don’t have full-time positions,” says K. Vančienė. She adds that more Ukrainians volunteer if needed. This activity, like communication, illuminates the everyday life of women trying to settle in a foreign land and the thoughts of those visiting Ukraine. After the holidays, the Samaritans will take another action – they will make trench candles.
Ukrainian soldiers need these very much. Therefore, they are already interested in the necessary tools and production, and when collecting paraffin or wax, they expect the help of Jurbarka residents. And it will come, because there cannot be anyone whose heart does not tremble when they realize that the candle in the trenches is light, warmth and faith for every Ukrainian soldier, that they are not alone in the fight for freedom.
