The St. Joe’s Refugee and Immigrant Working Group collaborated with Catholic Social Services to hold a collection from March 20 to April 5 for families arriving from Ukraine.

The group accepted donations of new and gently used items, and primarily received children’s socks and underwear, men’s clothing, T-shirts and linens, according to Erin Lamanna ’23, a member of the Refugee and Immigrant Working Group. 

Lamanna said the collection will help 19 people from Ukraine who arrived in Philadelphia the week of March 13 with next to nothing. 

The Refugee and Immigrant Working Group is aiming to help make their stay as comfortable as possible, Lamanna said. 

“We’re hoping to help these families feel a little bit more at home here,” Lamanna said. “They had so much going on in their lives back in Ukraine and then just coming to America is really tough.”

The donations went to Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which assists families from a number of countries, including Ukraine, through its refugee resettlement program. Kathleen Bevenour, assistant director of Catholic Social Services’ community-based services division, called the St. Joe’s drive “a gift from God for Catholic Social Services,” adding that it will help the organization in its work to relocate families in the greater Philadelphia area.

“A lot of those families come with nothing,” Bevenour said. “They don’t even speak the language. Some have health concerns, and depending upon their immigration status, they may not be eligible for medical assistance.” 

With this collection, both Catholic Social Services and the Refugee and Immigrant Working Group are trying to engage the St. Joe’s community to help those now re-located in their own backyard, said Beth McNamee, associate director of campus ministry and St. Joe’s Refugee and Immigrant Working Group co-chair. 

“While global migration and forced displacement is a global reality, it’s local,” McNamee said. “It’s right here. Our neighbors are right here who are arriving and in need of support. So it really makes this global reality real and concrete here in our local community.”