A truckful of hand-me-downs is headed from Clearwater to a struggling city in Ukraine. Children's clothes are especially needed.
By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published February 21, 2004
CLEARWATER - Drive along Drew Street just west of U.S. 19 and you might see a 40-foot tractor-trailer sitting off by itself at the edge of a church parking lot, bound for distant shores.
It is loaded with hundreds of T-shirts, jackets, hats, belts, pants and shoes of every style and color, some of it outdated, but all of it guaranteed a grateful reception at the end of the journey.
The load is headed for a city of 400,000 people called Kherson in the southern part of Ukraine near the Dnieper River.
The clothing drive is sponsored by First Christian Church and MASTER Provisions, a ministry in Walton, Ky., that serves needy people living in the economically depressed Ukraine, one of the four original republics of the Soviet Union and Europe's second largest country geographically.
"We're trying to fill the truck with clothing, bedding, shoes and children's clothes," said George Farmer, an intern at the church who is working on the project. "We need a lot of children's clothing."
The drive started Feb. 8 and will continue through Feb. 28.
Although donations are coming in at a fairly steady rate, Farmer said the truck is "nowhere near full."
"It's just an eighth of the way," he said. "We'll take any help we can get."
The goal is to collect 35,000 pounds of good, used clothing. (Torn or dirty garments are not wanted.)
The load will be shipped from Savannah, Ga., to Israel and on to Kherson, which was known for its shipbuilding industry before the upheaval of the Soviet government in 1991 and Ukraine's subsequent independence.
Its residents, many of whom lost their jobs, are still suffering from the drastic change.
"I've been there 15 times," Roger Babik, president of MASTERS Provisions, said by telephone from his office in Kentucky. "Outside the cities it's dilapidated, so we're trying to work in rural areas."
Babik said the ministry, which started 10 years ago and collects clothing in 12 states, has created 350 full-time positions in Ukraine.
When a shipment arrives, a quarter of the garments are given away "to widowers and families with children," Farmer said. The rest are sold at a low cost.
Shopkeepers and sorters offer a message of faith with every piece of clothing they sell or give away.
Babik said that is okay with many people who are hungry to hear about Christ.
"They ask simple things about Jesus and the Bible because they were shut out of Christianity for 70 years," he said. "They were persecuted for their faith."
If you would like to donate used clothing, drop by First Christian Church of Clearwater from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through Feb. 28. The church is at 2229 Drew St.
