City|The Russian attack
The relief group was an invention of an Espoo couple. In less than a day, more than 7,000 people joined the group.
Last on Saturday from Espoo Radius Westerlund she and her husband decided that something had to be done to help the Ukrainian refugees.
They contacted a Warsaw congregation in Poland to come up with an aid delivery. On the way back, Ukrainian refugees would be taken on board and brought to Finland.
The intention was to set off with two fathers from Espoo. A Facebook group called Operation Hope was set up on Sunday morning to raise aid supplies. Then it started to happen. In less than a day, more than 7,000 people joined the group and donations rained all over Finland.
“It wasn’t meant to be this big. I had time to sleep for two hours and yesterday I forgot to eat. You know you are doing something important, ”says Westerlund.
The plan took shape quickly. Early Tuesday morning, a convoy of three vans is set to leave the port of Helsinki for the Polish capital, Warsaw. In addition to Espoo residents, cars are coming from Jyväskylä.
HS is monitoring the relief team’s journey to and from Warsaw.
People empathy and a willingness to help struck the couple with an astonishment, Westerlund says. On Monday morning, there was already so much stuff in the family living room that helping hands were needed to go through it.
Westerlund realized very quickly that this relief operation could not be carried out with the help of two people. Already on Sunday, the Facebook group created its own discussion threads and people in charge for transportation, collection points and supplies.
People now have a strong need to help, but Westerlund stresses the importance of coordination.
“Every need is being met. But now it is not planned to dig up everything from the extra wardrobes, but requests are expected from there. ”
The grants for the trip on Tuesday are what the parishes have asked for refugees in the camp centers. Clothes and toiletries, diapers and food are on the way, especially for children.
According to a Polish congregation, the camp has more than 200 refugees, including children from a Ukrainian orphanage.
Relief operation the first trip will probably only go to Warsaw. The next group to travel to the Polish-Ukrainian border is leaving on Friday.
According to Westerlund, stocks would be made at the border to which donations could be delivered. Coordination of donations is handled jointly through the Polish authorities and parish contacts to ensure that aid reaches as well as possible.
There have been requests from the border, for example, for medical supplies and drones. The planes will allow local authorities to monitor the situation across the border, Westerlund says. These supplies will be leaving with the next convoy on Friday.
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