Valley church requesting aid for flooded Balkan states
May 21, 2014, 3:54 PM | Updated: 3:54 pm
PHOENIX — A Valley church is asking for donations to help people in Eastern Europe whose communities have been hit by devastating floods.
Thousands upon thousands of people have been forced from their homes and dozens of people were found dead after epic floods devastated the Balkan region. Entire villages remain underwater and rescue efforts are hindered by thousands of dislodged land mines first placed in the ground during the Bosnian civil war.
“I’m from a village about 100 miles south of Belgrade,” said Father Dragomir Tuba of Saint Sava Orthodox Church in Phoenix. “The area was hit, there’s flooding in my hometown, not as bad as other towns.”
Tuba is calling upon the kindness of the Valley to help people in his home country.
“It is our duty to for each one of us to help our fellow man, anywhere in the world,” he said.
Currently, religious leaders of the Balkan community — made up of Serbians, Bosnians and Croatians — are reaching out for the community’s help. They have scheduled the following events to collect aid:
Monetary donations will be accepted at Saint Sava Orthodox Church in Phoenix every day from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m.
Monetary donations and supplies will be accepted at the Islamic Center in Phoenix on Friday from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. through May 27th.
To learn more, go to the group’s Facebook page.
