Ukraine catatrophy
Hare Krsna,
Usually, I send only texts about book distribution, but this is an emergency. Ukraine is a poor country. I’ve witnessed this while visiting it
many times. Lots of the devotees don’t even have cars. Some do, so they drive out of the country. Some are walking in the cold with only the clothes on their backs. Some are staying in temples that have no electricity, and it’s as cold inside as it is outside. They need money for food and other necessities to survive. If you help in any way, Krsna and the devotees will be pleased with you. This as an opportunity to do genuine selfless service for devotees in need. I hope this doesn’t last long and the book distributors can go back to distributing books.
many times. Lots of the devotees don’t even have cars. Some do, so they drive out of the country. Some are walking in the cold with only the clothes on their backs. Some are staying in temples that have no electricity, and it’s as cold inside as it is outside. They need money for food and other necessities to survive. If you help in any way, Krsna and the devotees will be pleased with you. This as an opportunity to do genuine selfless service for devotees in need. I hope this doesn’t last long and the book distributors can go back to distributing books.
Here is the information on how you can contribute.
Your servant,
Vijaya Dasa
HELP for the UKRAINIAN DEVOTEES (04 March 2022)
Hare Krishna. Many devotees and friends are asking how they can help the devotees caught in the middle of the deadly and devastating fighting in Ukraine.
ISKCON has over 3,000 initiated devotees in the country, over a dozen temples, and three beautiful farms. I have attached a few photos of the main temple in Kiev.
ISKCON’s international governing body is in regular, daily contact with the Ukrainian devotees. Because of the very delicate and dangerous nature of the situation, we cannot say more than this.
However, a very reliable and trusted conduit for getting funds directly into the country and into the hands of the local devotee leaders has been established. You will find that information below. The need is heartbreakingly urgent and overwhelming.
ISKCON’s efforts are three-fold
1. The most pressing need is getting assistance to the devotees inside the country. The Kiev temple has two basement floors that have been converted into a bomb shelter. Other devotees are sheltering at the three farms or as best they can at devotee homes with basements.
2. The devotees in Hungary and Poland have set up multiple prasadam / food distribution stations at the main border crossings. The lines of refugees at the border crossings, in their cars, on bicycles, and on foot, are 40 miles long. The most recent report is that it takes 40 to 50 hours waiting in line to get across the border. People are escaping with only the clothes on their backs.
3. ISKCON temples in Europe are organizing housing for those devotee refugees who have managed to leave Ukraine but who now have nowhere to stay and no support. These are mostly women and children as Ukrainian men between 18 and 60 are all being pulled into the Ukrainian army.
Again, the most urgent need now is getting funds into the hands of the ISKCON leaders inside Ukraine who are coordinating the relief efforts to the devotees. You will find the Paypal information below.
There are two components of this secure funding system. The recipient of the Paypal account is a senior initiated devotee here in the USA. She then bundles the individual donations into large wire transfers and sends these to Kadambavan prabhu, an initiated devotee in Ukraine. He is an executive / director of the office of a Fortune 500 company in Ukraine and is very mature, knowledgeable, and impeccably honest. Kadambavan prabhu has sent his family out of the country but is staying on the ground, at great personal risk, to help manage this account and distribute the funds into the devotee relief efforts.
The need is overwhelming and the time is now. Whatever you send will not only help the immediate physical needs of the Ukraine devotees but will also let them know that they are not alone, but rather that the world-wide devotee community is praying for them and standing with them.
• How to send your donation:
Donations can be sent directly to the following email address on Paypal: vrajamohan1008@gmail.
Please also send a screenshot of your donation to vedicheart108@gmail.com. This way you have a record and they can send you a tax receipt.
If by Krishna’s grace, you have the means to send a very large donation, you can contact me for how to do that by a bank wire transfer into Ukraine and to Kadambavan prabhu.
Your servant,
Badrinarayan Swami
PS: Please circulate this appeal far and wide. People want to help. They just need an easy way to do so
Hare Krishna. Many devotees and friends are asking how they can help the devotees caught in the middle of the deadly and devastating fighting in Ukraine.
ISKCON has over 3,000 initiated devotees in the country, over a dozen temples, and three beautiful farms. I have attached a few photos of the main temple in Kiev.
ISKCON’s international governing body is in regular, daily contact with the Ukrainian devotees. Because of the very delicate and dangerous nature of the situation, we cannot say more than this.
However, a very reliable and trusted conduit for getting funds directly into the country and into the hands of the local devotee leaders has been established. You will find that information below. The need is heartbreakingly urgent and overwhelming.
ISKCON’s efforts are three-fold
1. The most pressing need is getting assistance to the devotees inside the country. The Kiev temple has two basement floors that have been converted into a bomb shelter. Other devotees are sheltering at the three farms or as best they can at devotee homes with basements.
2. The devotees in Hungary and Poland have set up multiple prasadam / food distribution stations at the main border crossings. The lines of refugees at the border crossings, in their cars, on bicycles, and on foot, are 40 miles long. The most recent report is that it takes 40 to 50 hours waiting in line to get across the border. People are escaping with only the clothes on their backs.
3. ISKCON temples in Europe are organizing housing for those devotee refugees who have managed to leave Ukraine but who now have nowhere to stay and no support. These are mostly women and children as Ukrainian men between 18 and 60 are all being pulled into the Ukrainian army.
Again, the most urgent need now is getting funds into the hands of the ISKCON leaders inside Ukraine who are coordinating the relief efforts to the devotees. You will find the Paypal information below.
There are two components of this secure funding system. The recipient of the Paypal account is a senior initiated devotee here in the USA. She then bundles the individual donations into large wire transfers and sends these to Kadambavan prabhu, an initiated devotee in Ukraine. He is an executive / director of the office of a Fortune 500 company in Ukraine and is very mature, knowledgeable, and impeccably honest. Kadambavan prabhu has sent his family out of the country but is staying on the ground, at great personal risk, to help manage this account and distribute the funds into the devotee relief efforts.
The need is overwhelming and the time is now. Whatever you send will not only help the immediate physical needs of the Ukraine devotees but will also let them know that they are not alone, but rather that the world-wide devotee community is praying for them and standing with them.
• How to send your donation:
Donations can be sent directly to the following email address on Paypal: vrajamohan1008@gmail.
Please also send a screenshot of your donation to vedicheart108@gmail.com. This way you have a record and they can send you a tax receipt.
If by Krishna’s grace, you have the means to send a very large donation, you can contact me for how to do that by a bank wire transfer into Ukraine and to Kadambavan prabhu.
Your servant,
Badrinarayan Swami
PS: Please circulate this appeal far and wide. People want to help. They just need an easy way to do so
