From staff reports
Since the City of Beaufort’s unofficial adoption of the City of Ostroh in Ukraine, Beaufort Mayor Stephen Murray has kept in regular contact with Ostroh Mayor Yurii Yahodka.
This past week, Murray coordinated a video call with Yahodka during a joint meeting of all three Beaufort-area Rotary clubs.
Speaking through an interpreter, Yahodka said that Ostroh, located on the western edge of Ukraine less than 200 miles from the Polish border, was still out of the war zone. The war, Yahodka said, has slowed the economy in his region, making it harder to support the refugees flowing in from the war zone.
“We try to help the refugees, but sometimes there is not enough food,” he said. “That is why your help with ready-made food is very good for us. It is a great help.”
On that front, Murray has coordinated the donation of 100,000 ready to eat meals from a company in Mullins, S.C. A shipping company agreed to pick up the meals and deliver 80 pallets worth of food and deliver it to the Port of Charleston. Once the food arrives in Europe an aid agency with experience working in Poland will handle the distribution of the food to those in need.
To date, the city has raised about $66,000 for relief efforts in Ostroh.
