Ukranians seeking refuge in Poland received the first delivery of humanitarian aid from East Kilbride firm Merson Group this week.
As reported in the East Kilbride News, kind-hearted staff rallied round and raised a whopping £12,000 to help 15 fellow workers based in Poland whose families have chosen to stay in the war-torn country.
With trucks bound for their Polish site in Wloclawek each week, Merson Group confirmed their first donation was delivered safely and distributed to those in need.
Mainly female refugees, who arrived in the country with just one bag of belongings, were able to take care of their most basic needs thanks to warm clothing and feminine hygiene donations.
Organiser Magdalena Kubicka, an employee for Merson Group in Poland, told Lanarkshire Live: “This all started with a letter from the 15 Ukrainians working in our factory.
“They asked for help for those who are still in Ukraine. The Ukrainian ladies received help straight from our warehouse. They left their homes with only what they could carry in their hands. Some refugees needed to walk for many kilometres to get into the Polish border.
“We are all happy that we could help some of the people who needed to run away from their homes. This war is so unreal, it is so close and we still living our day to day lives.
“We can’t even imagine what all these people feel when they don’t know what tomorrow brings. I can’t imagine how hard is to leave everything you know behind you. Running away from bombs, tanks, and aggressive soliders who are even shooting babies. This is so heartbreaking.
“It’s is a drop in the ocean, but a massive thank you to all involved.”
The truckload of humanitarian aid delivered included clothes, shoes, nappies, sleeping bags, washing powders and liquid soap.
Local charities ‘Nowoczesny Włoclawek’ and ‘Fundacja Humanitarna’ are working together to take all the remaining donations from Merson’s warehouse and transport it to the main humanitarian aid warehouse in Wloclawek next week where it will be distributed to those most in need.
Supplies are also being taken to a nun who had been living in a monastery in Kharkiv where she looks after 40 children. The war forced them to flee Kharkiv with all the children, risking their lives. They have now moved closer to the Polish border - to the Niepokalanek Monastery in Jazłowiec.
One of the nuns travels to Kharkiv personally to deliver the hygiene products, baby food, nappies, flashlights, batteries and candles to places where no other support reaches in Ukraine.
Along with Magdelena, Merson employeee Oleksander Koval, known as Sasza, a Ukrainian activist, was instrumental in organising the operation. His mother currently lives in a makeshift basement, in a place where no humanitarian aid reaches, where bombs are dropped by the Russians every day.
Magdelena added: “Oleksander used to be an activist back in Ukraine and really wanted to go and fight for his country. His wife stopped him as they have three children, she just didn’t want him to leave them.
“He has organised the van to deliver help straight to the border which will be going in once a week with as much as thay can pack into it.
“We are going to continue sending all nessecary products to Ukrainians in need, to those who are already in our area, to those who remain in basements and shelters and also to the charities who have a wider knowledge about Ukrainians in need.”
Merson Group now plan to sent vital survival goods to those Ukrainians choosing to remain in their war-torn homeland.
CEO Roddy Angus said: “We have activities in mainland Europe which brings the crisis in Ukraine ever closer to home so we want to keep assisting where we can.”
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