March 2022<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

S.O.N.G. teamed up with Aerial Recovery Group to assist with the safe evacuation of orphaned children in Ukraine. Our Executive Director, Wally Connor, traveled with nine other volunteers to the Poland-Ukraine border to work on the Logistics Team that assists and supports the Rescue Team. This group has been carrying out the orphan rescue missions inside Ukraine, as well as, processing the safe passage of orphaned and unaccompanied children into safe havens. Many orphaned and unaccompanied children have fallen victim to traffickers at the border that promised them safety and security.<\/p>\n\n\n

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S.O.N.G. visited several Refugee Camps in southern Poland and at the Ukraine border delivering much needed supplies including food, medicines, clothing, personal hygiene items, recreational items, therapeutic supplies, and much more. In addition, S.O.N.G. has adopted the Southside Refugee House and will provide on-going support as needed indefinitely.<\/p>\n\n\n

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September 2022<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

S.O.N.G.\u2019s return trip in September to the Poland\/Ukraine border was very productive. At the Southside Refugee Home that we have been supporting, we found familiar faces that have been there since March, and we met some new children who have arrived since our last visit in May. One of the children named Nasar, who has muscular dystrophy, was recently evacuated from southern Ukraine with his mother, brother, and sister. He arrived with no leg braces, no back brace, and no wheelchair. Volunteers and local supporters of Southside raised one-third of the cost to purchase these custom fitted items, and a local charity offered to pay one third. We decided we would cover the remaining balance. Upon arriving at the Orthopedic Clinic to complete the purchase, we were told that too much time had passed since the order was placed and that the local charity could no longer cover one-third. S.O.N.G. covered the remaining balance to complete the purchase. These items are critical for Nasar to not only improve his level of functioning but to prevent further ongoing contracture.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Our recent collection drive for critically needed medical supplies resulted in us filling six suitcases with 300 pounds of medications, bandages, first aid kits, insulin, medicines, and related items to treat children with diabetes, and much more. Upon arrival in south Poland, we met with our Ukrainian contact who immediately took possession of the items and transported them to hospitals in Lviv and Kharkiv. The level of appreciation on their part was heartwarming and resulted in tears of joy and grateful hugs. Special thanks to all of you who donated these desperately needed supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n

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With the approach of winter, and the probability of continued energy concerns in Ukraine and Poland, S.O.N.G. began collecting and purchasing winter clothing and blankets for the children at Southside, and for the children in temporary Safe Havens in western Ukraine that we are supporting with our new partner, New Horizons for Children. <\/p>\n\n\n

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With the help of fellow Knights back home we were able to contact the Knights of Columbus in Poland and Ukraine and have begun to work together in providing all the children with new winter jackets. The Knights conduct a \u201cCoats for Kids\u201d drive every year around this time and distribute a new winter coat to any child in need free of charge.<\/p>\n\n\n

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We finished off our visit to Southside the evening before we returned home with our usual parting meal of take out for all from McDonald\u2019s in Rzeszow. Always a big hit!<\/p>\n\n\n

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November 2022<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

S.O.N.G. continues to work with New Horizons for Children. NHFC is the primary agency overseeing and coordinating support for more than 1,000 children in 25+ temporary safe havens in western Ukraine, and more than 1,000 children in facilities in Poland. Many of these children were rescued by Aerial Recovery since April which S.O.N.G. had teamed up with in the early days of the war. We are grateful that we have been able to be a part of this ongoing critical Mission providing proper care to so many children who are in this situation through no fault of their own. Our work would not be possible without the support of all of YOU. Thank YOU to all our supporters and benefactors….We cannot do this work without YOU….!!!<\/p>\n\n\n

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S.O.N.G. delivered 70 pairs of winter gloves and mittens along with 70 winter hats to the Southside Refugee House and another shelter sponsored by Solid Rock Mission in Rzeszow, Poland. S.O.N.G. is also providing winter boots for the children. Southside is currently housing 90 Ukrainian refugees, 40 of which are children. S.O.N.G. has been supporting Southside since April helping with utilities, food, medical supplies, and other necessities. Special thanks to Szymon Czyszek<\/a> of the Knights of Columbus in Europe for assisting in securing winter coats for all the children which are being provided by the local KofC Council in Rzeszow.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Arrived in Lviv Tuesday morning, November 15th after an 8 hour \u201dred eye\u201d bus ride from Krakow, with an hour and a half event to process through the border – complete with detector dogs and lengthy interviews with those whom the dogs were interested in. Spent the day assisting our partner organization New Horizons for Children meet six children at the train station who had been evacuated out of Zaporizhzhia and process them into a local children\u2019s shelter that had room. We then met with the Director of the facility discussing ways to improve the care of the children and how we can help address current and future needs.<\/p>\n\n\n

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S.O.N.G. continues to provide ongoing support to the children orphaned by the conflict in Ukraine. Your support has made a significant comforting impact on their lives. To date, we have assisted Aerial Recovery in rescuing 841 orphaned children, 3,988 refugees, and 89 animals since the 24th of February. We will be returning to Poland and Ukraine soon to continue providing for current and future needs. Developing details will be posted here as we get them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donations can be made directly to: 
– Venmo: <\/strong>@SONGInc, Please note “SOS Ukraine” in the What’s it for?<\/em> section.
– PayPal & Credit Card: <\/strong>S.O.S. Ukraine Online Donation<\/a> 
– Bank: <\/strong>S.O.N.G., Inc., c\/o North Brookfield Savings Bank, 9 Gilbert Street, North Brookfield, MA 01535
– Check:<\/strong> S.O.N.G., Inc., 122 Long Hill Road, PO Box 426, Brookfield, MA 01506-0426. Please note “S.O.S. Ukraine” in the memo section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March 2022 S.O.N.G. teamed up with Aerial Recovery Group to assist with the safe evacuation of orphaned children in Ukraine. Our Executive Director, Wally Connor, traveled with nine other volunteers to the Poland-Ukraine border to work on the Logistics Team that assists and supports the Rescue Team. This group has been carrying out the orphan … Continue reading “S.O.S Ukraine (SONG’s Orphan Support Program in Ukraine)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":123,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supportingorphans.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/949"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supportingorphans.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supportingorphans.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supportingorphans.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supportingorphans.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.supportingorphans.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":955,"href":"https:\/\/www.supportingorphans.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/949\/revisions\/955"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supportingorphans.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supportingorphans.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}