The crisis in Ukraine

The crisis in Ukraine

Walking for Ukraine

A charity walk has been organised by the combined efforts of Bhativedanta Manor and the Lotus Trust  to raise more funds.

The walk will begin at 9:00 AM on  Sunday 24th April 2022 from the Krishna Avanti Primary School on Camrose Avenue in Edgware, and reach Bhaktivedanta Manor  near Watford by about 12.30pm. The route is 6 miles long and there will be 200 – 250 walkers altogether.  Rajesh Agrawal, the Deputy Mayor of London for Business, will be present and offers his whole-hearted support.

Participants of all ages have stepped forward to support the cause, ranging from three year-olds to grandparents, including walkers in their 80s.

The funds collected from this effort will continue the supply of the raw material taken into the heart of Ukraine into various cities like Kiev and Kharkiv etc where food is cooked on a daily basis and then delivered to underground stations and for people in need. This has resulted in massive appreciation from the Ukraine citizens who are greatly suffering.

Manor devotees front-line on Ukraine’s border

(this section will be periodically updated)
As a result of the generous donations in response to the joint campaign by Bhaktivedanta Manor and the Lotus Trust, Temple Manager Premaniketana das, security man Lila Jagannath das and now Congregational Care officer Kanhaiya das travelled to Hungary to help the devotee community there to distribute vegetarian food (prasad) as well as practical supplies to the needy.

As well as helping on the Hungarian border, the team made day-long journeys to the Polish and Romanian borders of Ukraine to deliver many tonnes of food provisions to Food for Life devotees operating in Kyiv and Kharhiv.

A humanitarian adviser told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “There’s a Hare Krishna temple in Kharhiv where they have started cooking and feeding over 1000 people a day”.

“During the bombing of Kharhiv,” explained Premaketana das. “Devotees are distributing the food we delivered in bunkers, subways and the Metro Underground.”

Speaking in a BBC Three Counties Radio broadcast, Premaketana explained “Tens of thousands of people of Ukrainians are very hungry, restricted to living on food tokens if they are lucky to reach those most in need we made the decision to risk entering into the Ukraine itself. The soldiers were appreciative of our efforts and let us through.