Russian Orthodox Church collects over 100 million roubles in aid to victims of fires

The Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service has raised over 100 million rubles in August to aid victims of fires, “Interfax-Religion” reports.

Over 15 million roubles ($ 500 thousand) have already been spent; the remaining amount will be spent on targeted help to the victims in compliance with the decision taken by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

“We should be very cautious in expenditures in order to provide effective targeted help. It is important not to waste money,” says Bishop Panteleimon of Orekhovo-Zuevo, head of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service.

For the period of twenty-four days, the Department sent over 305 lorries with humanitarian aid to the Vladimir, Voronezh, Ulyanovsk, Ryazan, Kaluga, Tula, Penza, Tambov, Moscow, Nizhniy Novgorod, and Ivanovo regions, and to Mordovia.

Every day, over 300 people brought various articles of daily necessity; 170 volunteered to sort out and load them. In total, over 8 thousand people took part in collecting, sorting out and shipping relief consignments.

By September 2, the Department received 3.909 donations on its rouble account, including three thousand from private citizens and sixty-six from the dioceses.