International Orthodox Christian News

SYOSSET, NY [OCA Communications] -- Over $72,000.00 in donations made it possible for the Orthodox Church in America to provide filled Christmas stockings or equivalent holiday gifts to children in Albania, Belarus, Georgia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. Recipients included children in orphanages, hospitals, and therapy centers, as well as from needy families.

Also this year, 1,000 Christmas stockings were sent to Cedar Rapids, IA families still recovering from the floods that devastated the region last summer. Local TV networks made the public aware that the filled stockings from the OCA were available. The Orthodox Clergy Council of Iowa distributed the stockings from three Cedar Rapids Orthodox parishes with the assistance of personnel from International Orthodox Christian Charities who had been working in the area.

A total of 425 parishes, Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America chapters, youth groups, organizations, and individuals donated to this year's project.

"Contributions large and small together made for another successful year," said Mrs. Arlene Kallaur, project coordinator. "Archangel Michael Church, Broadview Heights, OH, again topped the list of donors, with Holy Trinity Church, New Britain, CT, running a close second."

Once again the stockings were assembled and shipped from the Freeport, NY, Vocational Training Center of the Association for the Help of Retarded Children.

"It is our hope that this project, born of love for these children, has not only brought delight and smiles to their faces, but has also, in small measure, strengthened the ties that bind us with our brother Orthodox Churches, and those in need, in a tangible manner," concluded Mrs. Kallaur.

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