Sleeping bags, ski clothes, completely new duvets, boxes of vitamin pills, non-perishable food: Northerners brought goods (and money!) en masse to the editors of Dagblad van het Noorden and Leeuwarder Courant on Thursday. Nine packed containers travel to Ukraine, a country at war. “Overwhelming and moving.”
He lay awake. What if no dog participated in the action. Or what if far too many goods arrived?
Journalist Patrick van ‘t Haar (50) of the Leeuwarder Courant is overwhelmed by the success of his newspaper’s fundraising campaign and Newspaper of the North . “What a turnout, what a commitment! Nine containers full of goods and more than 260,000 euros. With this we can make a difference for Ukrainians, in a country where so much is broken.”
Fully loaded vans
The collection in the parking lot of the editorial offices in Groningen, Emmen and Leeuwarden started at 10 am, but the first generous donors arrived just after 9 am. They come with fully loaded vans, cars, bicycles too.
They bring neatly packed clothes. Winter clothing, ski clothing, thermal clothing. Sleeping bags, duvets – still new in the packaging – woolen blankets. Tents. A grill device. An old-fashioned stove. Aggregates. Flashlights. Hugs for the kids.
They bring food. A couple bought non-perishable food for 300 euros. Another brings cans of chowder. Pasta. liters of sunflower oil. Beans. Sloppy cigarettes. They bring toothbrushes, diapers, sanitary napkins.
Spontaneous help
In Groningen, all those boxes and bags end up on a huge hump in the rain. Before the items go into the containers, they must be sorted and labeled. People who bring things spontaneously decide to stay to help the volunteers.
Also Piet Wiersema (67) and his wife Gerda (62) from Spijk. They read about the action, shared it in the village: everyone could hand in goods to them. When they have unloaded their bus in Groningen, it serves as a shelter from the rain for hours, it is the place to write labels.
Or like Julius Drent (14) from Haren. Together with his mother and his sisters Eloise (12) and Hilène (7) he brings candles, matches, sweaters, ski suits and jackets. The three of them help load the pile of stuff into the containers, their mother stays in the car with corona. Julius stays for hours and turns out to be the chief helper.
A small idea became big
Van ‘t Haar, involved in the war in Ukraine as a reporter, had an idea a few weeks ago. ,,I thought: we put a container at the editorial office in Leeuwarden where our readers can donate things for the Ukrainian population. Evert reacted quite enthusiastically to that.” Evert is Evert van Dijk (57), editor-in-chief of Newspaper of the North .
The widespread enthusiasm of several parties involved eventually led to 9 containers and a donation campaign. Van Dijk is overwhelmed by the involvement of the readers, by the amount of goods and money as well.
“This is definitely worth repeating,” he says.
‘We will not sit on our hands’
Whether such an action is appropriate for an independent newspaper? Van Dijk is clear about that. “We as editors do not sit on our hands with so much misery. Then we are happy that we can mean something to people in the greatest possible difficulties.”
Initiator Van ‘t Haar endorses Van Dijk’s words. “As a newspaper, you form a community with your readers. I think it’s wonderful to see that so many people take the effort to contribute something.”
Like a lady from Emmen who brings baby hats, knitted by her and a friend. Such as Gerrit Postma from IJhorst who delivers gas bottles, a stove and preserves in Emmen. “Make no mistake, this is a war in our front yard,” he says.
Or like a woman who brings 35 bags full of clothes to Emmen, belonging to her recently deceased father. “It was his wish that the things ended up in a good place. Then Ukraine seems like a good destination to me.”
You can make a contribution up to and including 11:59 PM on New Year’s Eve at whydonate.nl/nl/fundraising/help-ukraine-nu .