FOX CHASE MANOR, Pa. – The Basilian Volunteer Program has continued Sister Bernarda’s work of visiting and bringing help to the orphans and the needy of Ukraine ever since Sister Bernarda was “retired” at age 90. An element that was added to this program was the weeklong English catechetical camps in various regions of Ukraine for the last five years.
Another spin-off of Sister Bernarda’s work is people who have offered to support the orphanages the sisters visit by sending clothes, disposable diapers, toiletries and various supplies during the year. One such person, Olga Shonk Alvino of Bellerose, N.Y., while battling cancer, has been making quilts for the last 10 years and sending them at her own expense to orphanages in eastern and western Ukraine.