On April 27, 2023, the St. Martin de Porres Charitable Foundation opened a social kitchen in Kherson. We express our gratitude to the Holy Father, Pope Francis, who supported the activities of the social kitchen for half a year, and to the community of Secular Dominicans in Zwolle, the Netherlands, who help us pay for utilities and rent. We thank also to the Apostolic Almoner His Eminence Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and His Eminence the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas for their assistance.
Cardinal Krajewski has been in Ukraine since June 26, and today we have met in Kherson. The cardinal is accompanied by the assistant bishop of Kharkiv-Zaporizhsky, Fr. Jan Sobiło and the parish priest of the Roman Catholic parish in Kherson, Fr. Maxim Padlevskyi.
It was important for us to show Cardinal Krajewski how the social kitchen works,. Today the cooks prepared and volunteers delivered about 1,000 meals for the disabled and rescuers. Unfortunately, after the explosion of Kakhovka dam, the number of people who need ready-made meals increased significantly, so we opened another kitchen to increase capacity. The cooks are employees and volunteers, local residents of Kherson.
Cardinal Krajewski met with us today and said: “The Holy Father wanted to be in Kherson, especially now, when it is so dangerous here, that’s why I am here. It is 3,123 km from the Vatican to Kherson, but the Holy Father blesses you, because you are close to him.”
The cardinal also went with us on a humanitarian mission to the village of Zymivnyk, where he helped us unload beds that were handed over by the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland and the Strategic Reserves Agency for the victims. Today we also delivered beds to the village. In Antonivka, we distributed 240 beds these days and our volunteers will bring another 200 beds from Fastiv tomorrow. Thank you, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, for your closeness, your presence means the presence of the Pope, his care and paternal prayer.
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