Members of the Franklin-based Slavic Baptist Church have organized a yard sale for Saturday with all proceeds going toward refugees and others affected by the war in Ukraine that was launched by Russia in February.

The church, which was founded in 1991 and now has a weekly attendance of around 250 members, is made up mostly of Ukrainians who have moved to Williamson County through the years. The church’s yard sale will be held from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Church at West Franklin located at 700 New Highway 96 West.

A majority of church members have family in Ukraine, including the coordinator of Saturday’s yard sale, Vasyl Melnychenko. His mother and sisters live in the city of Vinnitsa in central Ukraine. 

While Vinnitsa has not been hit as hard as besieged cities such as Mariupol, Kharkiv and Sumy, it has become a key landing spot for fleeing refugees and where supplies are desperately needed. 

“In Mom’s city, they’re dealing with the refugees,” Melnychenko said. “Many are driving and staying overnight. Churches are making efforts to house those people, so they can stay a day or two and then move on.

“Ukrainians organized this yard sale, and all the money goes back to those churches where we came from, some a long time ago and some more recently.”

Donation of goods and Saturday purchases will help:

  • To purchase food, medicine, hygiene products, portable gas stoves and transportation of the products to the war zone. 
  • Transportation of refugees out of Ukraine.
  • Help sustain refugees as they flee the war zone.

Donations can be made at:

Aleksey's Market

718 Thompson Lane, Ste 107, Nashville

Thursday and Friday, April 7-8, from 4-8 p.m.

The Church at West Franklin,

700 New Highway 96 West, Franklin

Thursday, April 7, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Slavic Baptist Church

1769 Lewisburg Pike, Franklin

Thursday and Friday, April 6-8, from 4-8 p.m.

See the Facebook page for Slavic Baptist Church for more information.