Medical supply donations flood Maitland, Ont. church to support Ukraine

MAITLAND, ONT. -

Communities throughout eastern Ontario continue to offer support to Ukraine, with one church along the seaway accepting donations on Saturday.

Brockville, Ont. resident Ivan Nabereznyj made the short trip to St. James Anglican church in Maitland with bags of items to donate.

"It hits very close to home," Nabereznyj told CTV News Ottawa. 

"I have a lot of family in Ukraine, my parents were both refugees from Ukraine in the Second World War," he said. "I have lots of cousins and I was just in Ukraine a couple years ago in some of the areas that are being shelled."

"Thankfully, a lot of my family is in the western part of Ukraine and they've been safe so far, but one of my cousins two older sons are fighting and they took part in the recent offensive against the Russian army, pushing them back 25 kilometres just west of Kiev," Nabereznyj said. 

St. James Anglican Church in Maitland, Ont. is collecting items for Ukraine. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

Wayne Thornhill, a warden with the St. James Church, says he is working with two other churches along the seaway, St. John's in Prescott and St. Paul's in Cardinal, to collect medical and personal care items for those in Ukraine.

"Everybody seems to want to do something to help so we started this donation program and everybody's kind of jumped on board," Thornhill said. 

"We're not looking for clothing, because it's very bulky and heavy to ship," he added. "The more urgent needs at this moment really are medical supplies of all kind."

Thornhill said the group received some valuable medical equipment from a couple of medical organizations, adding other items have come in from personal care workers. 

"Many people who get home care with PSW's, nurses, and other health care professionals coming into their homes, they end up with a bunch of supplies left over when their care is done," Thornhill said.

"They can't return them, they won't take them back and as long as they're sterile and in the original packages and everything we take them."

Medical supplies dropped off at St. James Anglican Church in Maitland, Ont. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

Volunteers kept busy through the morning sorting through every donation, packing boxes, and getting ready to ship them to Etobicoke. From there, they will be sent overseas.

The personal care items that have been collected will stay in storage at the church until they are needed, Thornhill said. 

They will also be given out to local families who are taking in Ukrainian refugees in the coming weeks. 

"There are already some in the Brockville area who have arrived and there will be many more throughout the Ottawa Valley," Thornhill said. "They are going to be looking for items for daily living, personal care items so we'll probably be able to help out there."

A steady stream of cars continued to pull in and out of the parking lot around noon, dropping off more bags and boxes. 

"Well it feels good to be able to help people that are in such dire straits, doesn't it?" said Barbara Moon. "It's the least we could do.  That's why I came down and I'm going over to a friend's place to pick up her box."

"It's so important, I know it's hard for these people," said Dolores Inglis, also donating items. "It really hurts me to see little children and mother's suffering and in need."

Thornhill said the church group has been overwhelmed with the support. 

"It's incredible, you know? But not surprising, because we know how generous people in this area are," he said. "We thank them very much and it's filling up for sure."

Thornhill's wife Doreen said a Ukrainian woman arrived right at 9 a.m. to drop off donations and was overcome with tears with the number of items in the hall. 

"She walked out of here and she was so grateful for our congregation to be able to do this kind of thing for her country." She said. "She came in and gave us her story, and it's really beginning to hit home with all of us."

Medical supplies donated to St. James Anglican Church in Maitland, Ont. will be sent to Ukraine. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

While the church would rather see monetary donations go directly to the Red Cross, Thornhill said they would not turn down any donations. 

"Anybody who wants to bring us a donation, we will accept it for Ukraine and it will be used to either help with shipping costs or be sent straight to the PWRDF", Thornhill said, which refers to the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, the Anglican Church of Canada's agency for sustainable development and relief. 

Nabereznyj, overcome with emotion, was grateful to see his community stepping up.

"What it means to me is that the world is saying what an awesome place Ukraine is," he said. "Hopefully, the world will rise up, and out of this my greatest hope is that the Russian people stand up as one and say enough. This is insanity because it is."

"We thank everybody and ask you to keep the people in Ukraine in your prayers and also the unfortunate people in Russia, who many have no idea what's going on," added Thornhill.