Hundreds of Widows Receive Food and Essential Items on International Widows Day

On 23 June 2020, on the occasion of International Widows Day, Believers Eastern Church Dioceses provided food and essential items among hundreds of widows who are facing hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As per the United Nations, there are an estimated 258 million widows around the world, and nearly one in ten live in extreme poverty. International widows Day is observed every year to raise awareness of the issue of widowhood and address the poverty and injustice suffered by widows all over the world.

Showing solidarity for the widows, Believers Eastern Church Dioceses across India organized gift distribution programs at various places to help improve widows’ lives. Here is a detailed account of the distribution.

Diocese of Raipur helped 150 needy widows with food and other essentials. The distributions were held at different places of the diocese and widows were provided with food, dry ration items such as wheat flour, rice, dal, vegetables, masks, sanitizer kits, sarees and umbrellas.

Diocese of Lucknow distributed dry rations and essential items to 21 widows, on the occasion.

Diocese of Patna held gift distribution at different locations and provided helpless widows with cooked food, mosquito nets, cloth and other essentials.

In observance of the day, Mission Diocese of Banswara distributed dry rations, vegetables and cloths among poor widows.

Parishes in Diocese of Surguja distributed different gifts to widows in their communities.

Mission Diocese of Jaigaon observed the day by honoring widows with shawls.

Members of a local parish in Diocese of Bastar visited an old age home where they provided fruits among the widows and other women of the home.

A Sisters of Compassion team in Diocese of Purulia distributed umbrellas among widowed women. Another team from the same diocese helped the widows in their locality by cleaning their houses and helping in household chores.

Parishes in Diocese of Dehradun and Bilaspur helped needy widows with clothes and groceries.

In Dioceses of Anand and Chennai sarees were gifted to widowed women in observance of the day.

Each year, Believers Eastern Church marks International Widows Day with gift distribution programs in order to help improve the quality of life of widows. By providing literacy skills, vocational training and tools of poverty alleviation, the church has helped hundreds and thousands of widows escape poverty in the recent years.

Learn more about how the church is empowering widows and women living in poverty.Click here