Reformed Church Aid Helps Schools and Soup Kitchens in Transcarpathia

MTI-Hungary Today 2023.08.29.

One hundred and twenty school bags filled with school supplies were donated by the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid to schoolchildren in need in Transcarpathia (formerly part of Hungary, now Ukraine). In addition, HUF 3.4 million (EUR 8,900) worth of food was donated by the aid service to soup kitchens in the region, from offerings of the Reformed Diocese of Királyhágómellék (in Oradea (Nagyvárad), Romania).

Károly Czibere, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid, said at the handover ceremony in Berehove (Beregszász) that the school supplies were delivered in the framework of the campaign entitled “Let’s erase the differences,” with their value exceeding HUF 2.8 million (EUR 7,330).

Despite the fact that it is not easy to make a living in Hungary, “we see that donations are increasing, because everyone in Hungary and throughout the Carpathian Basin thinks it is important not to abandon the people of Transcarpathia and to help them with all means at our disposal,”

he emphasized.

A donation of 3.4 million forints (EUR 8,900) worth of non-perishable foodstuffs from the Reformed Diocese of Királyhágómellék also reached its destination, thanks to the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid.

Szabolcs Bogdán, bishop of the diocese, said that they had been helping even before the outbreak of the war, as the people of Partium (formerly part of Hungary, now in Romania) felt that the Hungarians of Transcarpathia were “fellow citizens.”

Now they were buying food from donation campaigns organized in the congregations, individual donations, and money from the collection of baskets. The supplies will be used to support the operation of the soup kitchen run by the congregations of the Transcarpathian Reformed dioceses.

Fact

The Hungarian Reformed Church Aid was founded in 2006, by the Hungarian Reformed Church Synod. The primary aim of the organization was initially the establishment and improvement of institutions, but in response to the increased needs they are now doing traditional relief work as well. In the spirit of the universal Hungarian responsibility across national boundaries, the organization considers the Carpathian Basin as its primary area of activity.

Fábián Sándor Zán, Bishop of the Transcarpathian Reformed Diocese, who received the donation, said that 120 orphans will get the personalized school supplies. As for the use of the food donation, it will be distributed to fourteen soup kitchens in the diocese, thus elderly people in need of support and disadvantaged children will be able to eat. He emphasized that they are grateful that neither children nor the elderly left alone are destitute, as it is through the unity of the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia that they can help.

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Via MTI, Featured photo via Pixabay