March 1st, 2022

Fastiv, 01.03.2022

Dear friends!

Today snow has fallen, even though today is the first day of spring for Ukraine. From the very morning, after the Holy Mass, we organized our service in various branches of our Center. A great number of our Friends have come to serve as volunteers. About 30 volunteers are already working with us at that time. After seeking various advice from our Friends about the amount of bread that is needed for Territorial Defense volunteers, which is about 300 loaves of bread every day, we realized that our resources are too small and we need to do everything we can to bake more bread. Today we only donated 100 loaves of bread. And here begins the history of the miracles of today – the greatest of which is that we are alive and healthy.

Our friends from Winnica provided us with 2 tons of flour. We asked among all our friends to find the necessary baking appliances. Our friend Luccio Ferrero from Vinnitsa answered us. His pizzeria is not working now, so tomorrow all the necessary equipment will be delivered from Vinnitsa to Fastov.
Another logistic challenge for us was to bring equipment from our cafe on the left bank in Kiev. We addressed everyone we knew and everyone said it was impossible. We even planned an expedition calculated for two days. It turned out that the hero of today was sister Anastazja, who broke through the South Bridge, passing all the police cordons, and in a record 2.5 hours she got to Fastów; in the present conditions it is a real miracle!

Tomorrow, the bakery will be operating at full capacity, giving bread to the Territorial Defense and to elderly lonely people. Today 50 people – mothers and their children – said goodbye to us and left for Poland. We pray for a happy path for them to reach Sandomierz safely, where they are awaiting them. Thank you for these extraordinary efforts to Mr. Paweł and the wife of the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, Mrs. Monika Kapa-Cichocka.

The San Angelo Café operates in an exceptional “Until Victory” mode. We feed Ukrainian borscht, Ukrainian dumplings to all the needy and refugees, and we allocate all donations and income to the bakery.

We have re-opened spaces for children, a place where children can relax and take their stress off. We received dozens of phone calls and notifications with words of support and encouragement – from Poland to Japan! We are very thankfull! Under these conditions, it is a moral support for us that keeps us hopeful!
Today the curfew starts at 7:00 PM and will last until 7:00 AM. But already at 5:00 p.m. both small shops and large supermarkets were closed because there was nothing to sell. Today is the day of huge lines for milk, eggs and bread. We can see that the humanitarian situation is getting worse, but we hope it will not last long. We trust God!
Father Michał OP