Nearly three months after arriving in St. Louis, the Hado family from Lviv, Ukraine, has found new friends at Immaculate Conception Parish in Dardenne Prairie.

Nataliya and Ivan Hado and their four daughters, ages 5-17, came to St. Louis in December after spending nine months in Poland helping deliver humanitarian aid back to their home country. Through a series of connections — stemming from a priest friend of theirs in Poland to several Polish families in St. Louis — the Hados were introduced to Immaculate Conception pastor Msgr. Ted Wojcicki.

Meanwhile, Msgr. Wojcicki was searching for a beneficiary for the parish’s annual Lenten project. The project has been an opportunity to educate parishioners on issues both here and across the globe and to put Lenten prayer, fasting and almsgiving into action.

As a result, Immaculate Conception is giving its Lenten offering to parishioners at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Lviv, in western Ukraine, where the Hado family attended prior to leaving the war-torn country.

“With this project, the people of Immaculate Conception will send help to Ukraine and see what is happening there,” said Nataliya Hado, who spoke at Masses at Immaculate Conception earlier in March, and received a standing ovation. “God makes our wish a reality,” she said, adding that she is “thankful and grateful to God to be able to do this.”

Donations are being directed toward humanitarian aid efforts. A $50 donation will provide food to a family for a week. A $500 gift purchases a generator for heat and other needs. And a $5,000 donation helps purchase a vehicle to escape danger zones. The parish has set a goal of $40,000.

St. Michael has about 20 families in need of financial assistance. Some of them are large families, with up to eight children. Others have lost a father from fighting in the war.

Nataliya Hado shared the story of a family in which the father died when a rocket hit his workplace. He left behind a wife and three daughters, ages 15, 17 and 19, one of whom studied with one of the Hados’ daughters. “It is very difficult for the mother herself, and the children are at the age when it is necessary to pay for education,” Nataliya Hado said.

Immaculate Conception parishioners also have focused their prayers on peace in Ukraine and specifically for the people of St. Michael Church. They also have been asked to fast and abstain from something during Lent as an offering for the parish project.

After leaving Ukraine, the Hados spent nine months in Poland, where Ivan Hado previously earned a doctorate in theology at The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow. Because the Hados are considered a large family (all men with fewer than three children are required to stay in Ukraine and join military efforts), Ivan Hado was able to travel back and forth between Poland and Ukraine delivering humanitarian aid.

While in Poland, the Hados, who still have family in Ukraine, were encouraged by a friend who is a Catholic priest to come to the United States to continue their humanitarian aid efforts. They zoned in on St. Louis after discovering the large Catholic presence here.

“When we saw how many Catholic churches and Catholic families live in the Midwest area, we became excited about this new journey that we hope will allow us to serve the Ukrainian refugees and many others in the St. Louis area,” Nataliya Hado told Immaculate Conception parishioners during her talks.

She said it was God’s plan that led the family to St. Louis. “You see how the Holy Spirit can work,” she said. “It was like a fresh air for our family to hear of the Lenten project.”

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Supporting Ukrainian families in south St. Louis County

Faith and Immigration Justice at St. Justin Martyr Parish will host an authentic Ukrainian dinner on Saturday, April 22, at the parish, 11914 Eddie & Park Road in Sunset Hills. Doors open at 6 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m., followed by a presentation from Ukrainian immigrants about the ongoing war and those displaced by it. All proceeds will benefit St. Mary’s Assumption Ukrainian Catholic Church’s groceries and transportation fund. Cost is $35 per person before April 17 and $40 after that date.

To make reservations, visit tinyurl.com/23k79exx or contact Sharon Book at (314) 803-5316