St. Andrews Ukrainian Orthodox Church accepting donations to help Ukraine war effort

ECHO PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- St. Andrews Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Elysian Park is filled with boxes of supplies dropped off by community members.

People in Southern California have come by all weekend to drop off supplies to help those in Ukraine whose world has been turned upside down.

"I work for a surgical practice and so we were able to donate some supplies, " Donna Marman said. "We took up a collection in our practice to donate some baby formula, and [my son's] school, his 4th-grade class, they made cards for the moms and the kids and the dads that are affected."

The Ukrainian American organizer of this humanitarian effort initially started this donation drive in his own home.

RELATED: 14-year-old Ukrainian refugee arrives in SoCal after fleeing war-torn Ukraine alone

A 14-year-old who fled his home in war-torn Ukraine has made it to SoCal to begin a new life. He is one of 1.5 million children to flee to safety since the war with Russia began.

"People from St. Andrews Church contacted me that they are willing to open the doors for me, to have this building to receive all the donations and now we're here with a massive amount of boxes and humanitarian help coming in every day," donation drive organizer Seva said.

After a weekend filled with donations, there's still a great need for diapers, infant care items and personal hygiene products. The church says it still needs boots and thermal garment donations to help the Ukrainian people keep warm. They also seek medical supplies such as IV needles and dressings to treat the wounded.

The donated supplies will be flown to Poland in a cargo train and then trucked to the city of Lviv, Ukraine.

Donations can be brought to St. Andrews between Noon - 6 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. If you can't make it at those times, the church says someone should be there to help accept donations after the official drop-off times.