Ukraine Relief

In April, a CRF team was able to travel to Romania to assess our existing refugee relief efforts and evaluate how we can best use the resources our donors are providing for this effort.

From the onset of the refugee crisis, our Romania-based team has been providing food, toiletries and other basic necessities to several centers in Bucharest on a weekly basis. These centers varied in size from a converted apartment on top of a church building to a dormitory and gymnasium at an unused boarding school. Our association with these centers was made through contacts from long-established CRF programs in Romania. We will continue to support these centers on an as-needed basis.

 The US team traveled with our Romania partners, Eugen and Kathryn Ana and Laurentiu Tene, to a center in Alexandria, about 90 minutes southwest of Bucharest towards the Bulgaria border, where one floor of a government-run women’s shelter has been converted into a center for women and children. The center was recommended to Laurentiu by a church contact.  While it is a government facility, they rely on donations for much of their day-to-day needs. CRF has already contributed to the educational needs of the children and will continue to provide assistance to the center as part of our on-going effort with food, toiletries, basic necessities and additional bedding needs.

We and the Ana’s then visited a center in Sculeni, about five hours north of Bucharest and less than a kilometer from the Moldova border. This facility was also recommended to Laurentiu by a church contact. This center for abandoned and orphaned children is a private facility operated buy a church elder and staffed by church volunteers. The bottom floor has been converted to house up to 75 refugees. The director and his team make twice weekly supply runs across Moldova into Ukraine to families who are unable to separate. We have purchased a commercial oven for their kitchen as well as additional washers and dryers and will help with additional bedding needs. This center will be a part of our on-going effort with food, toiletries and basic necessities.

We spent several days at Isaccea port, about 3.5 hours east of Bucharest on the Romania-Ukraine border, where hundreds to more than a thousand refugees are crossing from Ukraine daily. While the Romania government has provided some very basic amenities, most of what occurs at this entry port happens because of volunteers – churches, organizations and individuals who’ve come from across Europe and North America. We are cultivating a relationship with a woman from Bucharest who organized much of the activities around food, toiletries and other basic necessities. These are provided to those arriving and awaiting onward transportation and accommodations. The woman is also working to create an NGO to be able to establish a similar distribution center on the Ukraine side of the border to serve those waiting to cross by ferry. Most refugees are waiting hours to days for an opening to cross, and then hours to at least a day to move in-country or elsewhere. Other volunteers are assisting with the transportation and accommodation arrangements. This port will be a part of our on-going effort with food, toiletries, basic necessities, and potentially bedding needs and transportation.