RPT - Russian Monastery In US Needs Over $100,000 For Repairs After Devastating Storm - Dean

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2021) Repairs continue on the major English-speaking Russian Orthodox Holy Cross monastery in the United States after the devastating winter storm in February, but more than $100,000 is needed to cover all the material losses, monastery Dean Hieromonk Gabriel (Hooten) told Sputnik.

"Right now, the estimate for repair and replacement with some upgrades to prevent this situation from happening in the future is around $110,000 give or take, though we have not attempted to calculate the lost income from our business during the month of the outages," father Gabriel said.

The monastery located in the mountains of West Virginia was severely damaged when a heavy winter storm hit several US regions and caused prolonged power outages.

"[Monks] need to consider the removal of damaged, dead and dangerous trees around the monastery buildings later this year, which will likely be expensive since specialty workers will need to be hired to bring down many trees without damaging the buildings," father Gabriel said.

As a result of donations from believers, the monastery currently received enough funds for its urgent needs, he said.

"Thanks be to God we have already raised what we need and will be able to take care of everything, glory to God," the monk added.

Holy Cross monastery is an English-speaking men's convent in the US under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. The brotherhood numbers about 30 monastics.