Metro Detroit volunteer group leaving to re-join Ukraine war refugees in Poland
FOX 2 - The war in Ukraine rages on, nearly nine months after Russia invaded its border. The United Nations says more than 3.5 million Ukranians have sought safey in Poland.
Jack Lintol, a volunteer with the St. Clare of Montefalco Parish in Grosse Pointe Park, has seen the devastation firsthand. He first went to Poland in May.
"There were a lot of people helping," Lintol said. "You could see tents of people giving hot soup, hot coffee at the border. Today, not too many people helping, but we are still there."
Volunteers with the Catholic church have helped more than 1,400 refugees re-settle. Right now, the church is caring for 220 people close to Ukraine border.
"Last time it was probably the most emotionally difficult thing I've ever done," he said. "Because I had to leave these people - whether it's my little buddy Vonia, or whether it is the elderly lady in the Ukraine council when I was rubbing her feet and talking to her and ministering her, even though I couldn't speak her language, those relationships are burned into my heart."
Lintol is going back to Poland on Wednesday. This time, Detroit Rev. Jim Holley will go too. Holley is a Detroit police commissioner - and the former senior pastor of the Historic Little Rock Baptist Church.
"In this day and time where there's so much division, so much hatred that's going on throughout this country, throughout this world, somehow ... I want to make sure we are participate in love and we participate in compassion," Rev. Dr. Holley said.
Together the pair will help families get through the devastation. Lintol and Holley will also buy at least 2,500 coats in Poland to give to refugees. They will even give away clothes showing love from the Motor City.
"I want people to know we are there, that the City of Detroit, Michigan and Michigan, that we really care," Holley said. "I think that's what people really need to know."
Holley says this trip is just the beginning. He plans to come back and leverage his relationships across the city to help more next year.
"I want to be effective - that's what I want to do, make sure I make a difference," he said.
"This is very important that I reach out," Holley said. "Because I think ministry is international."
To join the effort, see below:
Donations can be mailed or dropped off at St. Clare of Montefalco / Attn: Ukraine
1401 Whittier Road
Grosse Pointe Park MI 48230
(313) 647-5060
Coats
Boots
Shoes
Body armor
Helmets
Flack jacket
Money
Water filtration
Blood stopper
Premium Nylon Tourniquet
General Medical Kit
Jack Lintol in a picture from a previous trip to Poland where he volunteered to help Ukrainian refugees.