(La Porte, IN) - Donations of money keep piling up in La Porte to help refugees from Ukraine.  Bethany Lutheran Church has collected over $22,000 when the goal, originally, was $5,000 when the fund raising drive began last month.

Church member Carrie Garwood said the money is going to help build a refugee center in Poland where Ukrainians continue fleeing in huge numbers to escape the dangers of the invasion by Russia.  The funds will be delivered soon to two churches in that country for distribution to the cause.

“That overseas sending money stuff might take a couple of days so they might not actually have it in their accounts until Monday,” Garwood said.

Garwood said the fund raising will continue as long as people are still willing to give and the need persists.

La Porte County Police Officer Slawek Czupryna and his wife, Agniescka, grew up in the area where an abandoned elementary school is being converted into the refugee center.  Mrs. Czupryna made the connections in her homeland to make sure the funds wind up in the proper hands.

Garwood said money has come from all over the region and other states like Florida and Wisconsin.