Wheelchairs, stretchers, mattresses and food. The volunteers of the Caritas foundation are busy in Hensbroek to fill the truck, which is leaving for Ukraine tomorrow, with relief supplies. The warehouse in De Rijp, where all the stuff is sorted, is almost bursting at the seams: “It is heartwarming that people are so compassionate.”
The founding has been overwhelmed with all the obtained stuff that people donate. “Even beyond Haarlem, people came to us to give away goods,” says chairman Jan Pilkes proudly. Pilkes is located in a warehouse in Hensbroek and is working with volunteers to load the sorted goods into the truck.
The driver is Ukrainian Mykola (28). Today he is still helping to load the truck, but tomorrow he will drive back to his motherland to deliver the goods. After that, Mykola will join the Ukrainian army to fight against the Russians.
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All donated goods first arrive at the storage facility in De Rijp. From there, the donated items are sorted by volunteers and labeled with a name tag. “This makes it very easy for us to see what goes into the truck,” Pilkes continues.
Anneke Groen from Middenbeemster has been a volunteer for the Caritas foundation for over four years and is busy sorting all the clothes. In the video below she emotionally tells how happy she is with all the donations. “It is heartwarming that people are so compassionate.” (Text continues below the video)
Initially, the truck was supposed to leave for Ukraine today, but according to chairman Jan Pilkes, that went a little differently. “Today we are still getting potatoes and carrots from the food bank. We want to take that with us because the Ukrainian pastor really wants it for the people there who really need it.”
In the shed in De Rijp, the items continue to flow in and all donations are still more than welcome. “We would like things that are clean and intact because we are not a recycling center. We are also very happy with financial support because the fuel prices are very high and we want to continue with this work. It will all come to the right place.”