Diners with a taste for international fare can help people suffering in Ukraine.
Saint Elizabeth Orthodox Church, in Woodstock, is dishing up Pascha, a traditional bread served during Easter, along with pierogis and other foods from eastern Europe as a part of its International Food Festival. The church is planning to donate 10% of the profits for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. The profits will go to the International Orthodox Christian Church, which is working to address the immediate needs of Ukrainians, according to their website.
In 2018, St. Elizabeth started the food festival to highlight different ethnic groups and heritages represented in the church.
“We really wanted people to know that this is, this is a church for all people. It’s not just like for this ethnic group. And so, we started having this international food festival so that we could explain that to people,” Father Matthew Dutko, the priest of St. Elizabeth Orthodox Church, said Wednesday.
Church members brought together recipes from their ancestors’ homelands. Many items made for the festival are popular in eastern Europe and are hard to find in the Atlanta area, Dutko said.
Dutko believes the food sales are successful because the items remind people of recipes their grandparents or great-grandparents made.
Credit: Courtesy of Saint Elizabeth Orthodox Church
Credit: Courtesy of Saint Elizabeth Orthodox Church
“Maybe you made some of this stuff with your grandparents when you were a kid and you haven’t made it for 40 years or something,” Dutko said. Some people are overjoyed that they can purchase some of these items, he added.
Although the church works to serve its Woodstock community, they also wanted to serve those abroad, which is why they decided to donate some of the profits to Ukraine this year.
“We talked about it with the members on the church council and everybody, everybody agreed very quickly that, that we felt like it was the least that we could do,” Dutko said.
Items can be ordered online and picked up on Fridays or Saturdays in March and April. All of the food is handmade by members of the church.
Those who are interested can learn more and purchase food at the Woodstock International Food Festival website.
About the Author
