Lenten Donation 2010

Polish Orthodox Church

21.02.2010

A social campaign has been started for helping lonely elderly people and to support treatment of adults and children. It is the fifth time action takes place and again it has ecumenical character. Apart from Orthodox charity ELEOS, also Catholic Caritas and charities from Evangelical Churches (Diakonias) are taking part in it.

This year’s campaign is organized under the slogan: “Let us be witnesses of love”. Charities associated with churches want to attract society’s attention to the fate of elderly people who are often left without care from their relatives and are living in solitude.

Orthodox charity ELEOS will distribute 22,000 money boxes around parishes. Profit from those boxes will be transferred to rest-homes, ambient day-rooms and community centres in the poorest dioceses of Polish Orthodox Church. “A donation to a neighbour is to be a small equivalent of Christ’s sacrifice to us all. During the Great Lent a neighbour expects our help, and our donation is a saving on simple renouncements, given to others” – said Rev. Doroteusz Sawicki from Warsaw’s division of the charity. Rev. Sawicki paid attention to the importance of the Internet in the life of elderly people thanks to which they can get in touch with their children, who often live hundreds of kilometres away. ELEOS is running dozen of day-rooms and rest-homes in the rural area, where elderly people can access the Internet , eat a meal or attend therapy meetings.

Caritas Poland will distribute over 1.2 million money boxes along with religious education materials Polish Diakonia shall hand over 15,000, and another Diakonia will distribute 100. The campaign “Lenten Donation” will last until 31st March.

On he basis of:
KAI
caritas.pl

Source: