For many years, my family belonged to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. This means we bought a "share" of the crop a local farm produced before it was grown. In the spring, weekly pick-ups of farm-fresh fruits and vegetables began. They continued until the end of the growing season. It's a wonderful way to help small farmers stay in business by having a predictable income; it's also a great way to feed your family delicious, nutritious food!

Occasionally, with our pick-up, we would receive a recipe to try. Our bag would feature some of the ingredients. One week, along with our regular veggies was a bouquet of sunflowers, a big bag of beets, and a recipe for Borscht that came from a young woman who had been a summer exchange student on the farm. Too many years have passed for me to remember her name, but I don't need the recipe to remind me where she was from: Ukraine.

It was obviously a family recipe, the kind you know so well that you don't really measure ingredients. Writing it down for someone else can be difficult. We stumbled through the quirky directions, making such a large pot of this hearty concoction that we ate it for a week and didn't mind a bit!

Last week, as we watched and prayed over the constant news of the invasion of this warm, friendly young woman's homeland, we took out the recipe and made it in her honor. We wondered if she was safe. Did she have enough to eat -- even the simple cabbage, carrots, and potatoes we used to create her family recipe? By now, she may be a mother herself. Was she one of the moms we see on the news with children in tow and husbands left behind to fight?

Besides praying, what could we DO?

The answer came from The Pontifical Mission Societies of the United States (TPMS). After meeting with representatives of the Apostolic Exarchate from the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Monsignor Kieran Harrington, our National Director, announced a Solidarity with Ukraine Fund. Fifty percent of the funds raised will be split between the missions of mercy of both the Apostolic Exarchate and TPMS in support of the outreach of local priests, religious, and lay pastoral leaders in service of their people. The other half of the donations will go directly to aid refugee relief in Poland.

Join us in supporting Church leaders as they reach out with a message of God's love, as well as material support, to all those who are suffering. Go to www.propfaithboston.org. Give in honor of Ukraine.

Above all, pray for peace.

- Maureen Crowley Heil is Director of Programs and Development for the Pontifical Mission Societies, Boston.