Solving the truck problem: Fr. Patrick Briscoe reports from Poland

The Knights of Columbus are busy securing warehouse space and trucks to transport much needed supplies to Ukraine.

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Local Knights of Columbus councils and partner organizations like Caritas Poland have collected many dry goods for Ukraine. There’s now a push to find additional warehouse space to store the collected items.

Thanks to the efforts of one council, storage space was found in a distillery in Lanćut, Poland. Lanćut is a small town located on the A4 highway, just east of Rzeszow. Henryk Rydzik secured space in a warehouse. Rydzik serves as chairman of the foundation which supports the development and charitable works of the Archdiocese of Lviv, the Semper Fidelis Foundation. Thanks to the generous response of many Poles, storing the collected goods has become a significant problem on the ground for humanitarian organizations.

But there’s another problem: it’s difficult to arrange for trucks to drive the collected items to Ukraine. Many semi trucks are owned by leasing companies. These companies are not permitting, due to the substantial risk, their trucks to continue shipping to Ukraine. Even if you do find a truck, it’s difficult to arrange for a driver.

Today the Knights secured a truck and were able to load it with the medicine purchased last Thursday with the cooperation of Caritas of the Diocese of Radom. That truck will carry $100,000 worth of medical supplies and other essential goods (food, paper goods, etc.) to Lviv.

Photo courtesy of Fr. Patrick Briscoe

Hopefully they will soon be able to secure additional trucks and send a full convoy. Szymon Czyszek, the Director of International Growth of the Knights of Columbus says, “The Knights of Columbus are here to solve problems. We will make sure that these things get into Ukraine.”

The UN estimates that Ukraine will need internal assistance (relief, supplies, transportation, etc.) for 12 million people. While 2.6 million have fled the country as refugees, many more will need help in Ukraine itself. The charitable work of the Knights of Columbus reaches both groups: those in Ukraine who need assistance now and those refugees fleeing Ukraine to neighboring nations, like Poland.