At his services he seeks donations for bullet proof vests and helmets as Ukrainian-Americans across the United States mobilize to raise funds for Ukraine's under-equipped war effort.

"Our collections have different purposes but mainly for military aid," Zvarych explains at the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church outside Frackville, 100 miles (160 km) north east of Philadelphia.

"We will try to buy as many bulletproof vests and helmets as possible. If we can get them here and ship them quickly that will help tremendously," adds the 46-year-old, who moved to America from Ukraine in 1999.

There are just over one million Americans of Ukrainian ancestry, according to census estimates in 2019. The largest percentage live in Schuylkill County, in eastern Pennsylvania.

- Migrants worked in mines -

Ukrainians first arrived in the 1870s to work in the coal and steel mines during the US industrial revolution. Others followed, including during the Stalinist era and World War II.

"They brought with them their traditions, their religion," explains Mark Fesniak, the priest at St Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Minersville.

The decline of the coal mines in the 20th century caused many to move to New York, Philadelphia and Chicago in search of work, but their traditions remain.

At a nearby food hall, half a dozen women are making halupki, a Ukrainian cabbage dumpling stuffed with beef, pork and rice, for a church fundraiser.

As they roll the delicacies by hand they express their sadness and anger at Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of their ancestral homeland.

Fighting back tears, 69-year-old Michelle Hume, whose grandmother came from Ukraine, says, "I just feel so bad for them."

Nancy Marchefsky, 70, shouts: "I wish we could send them some of these halupki."

As the western world rallies around Ukraine, many Americans are doing their bit to help, from setting up GoFundMe campaigns to holding fundraising drives.

The Ukrainian Consulate in New York posted information on Facebook on how to transfer money to Ukraine's defense ministry to help its armed forces -- and even on how to enlist to fight.

In Schuylkill County, where 5,000 miles (8,000 km) away from Kiev, golden-domed Ukrainian churches sit near abandoned anthracite mines, locals' efforts are gathering steam.

- Bandages, boots, coats -

Before heading to a Father Zvarych service this week, John Smolock and his wife grabbed from their home unopened medicine, hand-sanitizer, bandages, boots and coats to drop off at a collection.

After speaking to Zvarych, the 69-year-old Smolock decided to make another donation -- a cheque for $400 for a bulletproof vest.

"It is something to protect our people, our soldiers, over there," Smolock, whose grandparents moved from Ukraine to Pennsylvania in the early 1900s, tells AFP.

The organizer of the donation drive is Matthew Kenenitz, a Ukrainian-American who was teaching English in Kiev before fleeing a couple of weeks before the invasion.

Several locals lined up with bags of donations during AFP's visit. Items included anti-burn medicine ointment, gauze, blankets and crutches.

The collection was to be sent to Philadelphia where Kenenitz said a plane of donated supplies was due to fly Ukraine this week.

Kenenitz, 40, hopes others will follow Smolock's lead and contribute towards army gear for Ukrainian fighters, some of whom are inexperienced volunteers from European countries.

"There's also camouflage (fatigues), night-vision goggles, drones, boots -- all that kind of stuff they need to survive," he says.

The White House insists Americans should not go to Ukraine to fight, but at St. John's Father Zvarych says he knows of some men with a military background who are keen.

"They can help to fight a fair war, at least," he says.

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