Minnewaska Rotary Club donates groceries for new Ukrainian families
News | Published on October 23, 2023 at 12:19pm CDT
A group of individuals in the Minnewaska area community have joined together with MECO7 in Glenwood to sponsor two more Ukrainian families seeking refuge in the United States.
The new families arrived recently and the Minnewaska Rotary Club helped fill their shelves and refrigerators with groceries. Above, four Minnewaska Rotarians stopped to show off a pickup load of groceries–everything from fruits and vegetables, to meat and chicken, cereal, dried and canned goods. Although the local group donated funds available for the groceries, the Minnewaska Rotary Club decided to donate the groceries to allow the money already raised to be used for other necessities for the Ukrainian families. From left are Rotarians Jennie Stone, Dick Benson, David Shepard and Rita Benson. Also helping with groceries were Rotarians Amy Roers, Jeannie Kramer and Tim Douglass.
The project to bring Ukrainian families to Glenwood started through education and partnership with an organization called Alight (wearealight.org), a nonprofit organization in Minnesota that partners with Welcome.US to connect Ukrainian families with United States sponsors. The war in Ukraine has destroyed cities, separated families, and forced 25% of the population to leave their homes. 8 million Ukrainians have fled to neigh- boring countries, while 6 million are internally displaced.
Karina Mork of MECO7 has been heading a fundraiser to help the families. For more information and to donate visit GoFundMe.com/minnewaska-area-Ukrainian-family-sponsorship or donate locally at Glenwood State Bank (mention MECO7). To learn more about the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) program and how to become a sponsor, visit wearealight.org or welcome.us. For more information on the Minnewaska project, visit MECO7.com. When Ukrainian refugees arrive in Minnesota, they come with very little – usually what they can fit in a suitcase and the clothes they are wearing. 100% of the received funds are used to support the family in settling into a safe home – the first step in rebuilding their lives.
