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Food drive in Schuylkill County to help Ukraine

Newswatch 16's Claire Alfree spoke with volunteers about the food drive going on this week.

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. — A church in Berks County is partnering with Boyer's Grocery Stores across Schuylkill County to help feed Ukrainian refugees.

Terri and Al LaPlaca drove to Orwisburg to help fill a trailer with food. The food is destined for Ukrainian refugees.

"They don't have water, they don't have food, a lot of them are starving to death, and they can only last so long," Al LaPlaca said.

The LaPlacas belong to Christ in Freedom Church in Pottsville. The church is helping St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in Hamburg and Boyer's Food Markets to collect supplies this week.

Customers can donate canned food and other nonperishable items that will be sent to Ukrainian families.

Hearley Hendricks is a manager at the store in Orwigsburg.

"When I'm up front, I'm seeing people bring in stuff from home, or when they see it, they come in, shop for stuff, and they put out stuff to the boxes," Hendricks said.

Members from both churches are packing the trailer at Boyer's headquarters in Orwigsburg. Next week, the food will then be taken to Harrisburg and then flown to refugees overseas.

"I spend a lot of time praying for the situation over there, and for me to take a small part in this by just transferring food from one place to another, it just makes me feel good to know that in a small way i',m helping these people that are so far away," said Terri LaPlaca.

Each of the bags includes a message: Faith for today, hope for tomorrow, and love for Ukraine from the people of Schuylkill County.

"One tractor-trailer isn't enough. We need to make 10, 20, 30 tractor-trailers or more because the people really need it," said volunteer Barbara Kurtz.

If you would like to help feed Ukrainian refugees, you can bring all nonperishable food items to any Boyer's Food Market across Schuylkill County until the end of the week.

See more videos on our area’s connection to the Crisis in Ukraine.  

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