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In golden-domed churches, US's Ukrainian heartland rallies for war effort
In America's Ukrainian heartland in coal-mining Pennsylvania, a Catholic priest seeks donations for military supplies to help soldiers fighting Russia's army thousands of miles away.
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Catholic priest Petro Zvarych conducts a liturgy service at the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Maizeville, Pennsylvania, on March 2, 2022. (AFP/Ed Jones)
I
n America's Ukrainian heartland in coal-mining Pennsylvania, Catholic priest Petro Zvarych preaches to his parishioners -- and asks them for money to buy military supplies for soldiers fighting Russia's army thousands of miles away.
At his services he seeks donations for bullet proof vests and helmets as Ukrainian-Americans across the United States mobilize to raise funds for Ukraine's under-equipped war effort.
"Our collections have different purposes but mainly for military aid," Zvarych explains at the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church outside Frackville, 100 miles (160 km) north east of Philadelphia.
"We will try to buy as many bulletproof vests and helmets as possible. If we can get them here and ship them quickly that will help tremendously," adds the 46-year-old, who moved to America from Ukraine in 1999.
There are just over one million Americans of Ukrainian ancestry, according to census estimates in 2019. The largest percentage live in Schuylkill County, in eastern Pennsylvania.
Migrants worked in mines
Ukrainians first arrived in the 1870s to work in the coal and steel mines during the US industrial revolution. Others followed, including during the Stalinist era and World War II.
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