NEW YORK: February 14, 2017
Appeal by Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York to the Rectors of Churches and Directors and Teachers of Parish Schools

Dear in the Lord Parish Rectors,
Directors and Teachers of Parrish and Sunday schools:

With our blessing and in the framework of the initiated program "School piggy Bank", the Prince Vladimir Youth Association together with the Synodal Youth Department is organizing financial assistance to the Efimovskaya special boarding school for orphans in the Leningrad region. The boarding school currently has over 100 children. The main contingent of students are children left without parental care. Most of these children never had a home, they did not know of parental warmth. Many of them have complex diagnoses, terminal disease. As life shows, the years that they spend in the boarding school are the most bright and memorable in their difficult life..

During Great Lent, this good deed will take the form of a program known as the “school piggy bank.” We appeal to you to help support these poor orphans. Every penny donated by your children will mean a great deal. Collected funds will be of great use and support to these parentless children. They will be especially happy to know that children their age provided this help.

Christian love is expressed in actions. We hope that during Great Lent, your children will express their love for God and their neighbor by helping the needy Ukrainian children, which will also be a stimulus to Christian spiritual growth.

The Prince Vladimir Youth Association is organizing a youth choir trip to St. Petersburg, during which the young singers will hold concerts for clergy and parishioners, and will relay the funds raised in our parishes.

Moneys should be collected up until Palm Sunday, inclusively. Checks should be written out to the Prince Vladimir Youth Association. The transfer of cash should be arranged with the Senior Priest of the Cathedral of Our Lady “of the Sign” in New York, Protopriest Andre Sommer at 646-320-7382 or via email at youthpv@gmail.com.

After the trip, all parish schools will be provided a report on how their collected donations were used. I thank you in advance, invoking Divine blessings on your Christian labors, and wish you to continue to travel the path of Great Lent and greet the Resurrected Christ with spiritual joy.

+HILARION,
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.