The first van loads of aid for Ukraine have left York St John University today (Tuesday) on their way to help residents of the war-ravaged country.
What were described as ‘mountains’ of donations have been gathered at the campus on Lord Mayor’s Walk, after being dropped off there, at the University of York or at Bootham School,
They have been almost filled the university’s large cafeteria extension.
Thousands of bags and boxes of food, clothing and other items have been donated since the appeal began. Organisers have had to stop accepting any more donations until the current packages are shipped.
One of the volunteers, Dan Hughes, said: “We have been really impressed and surprised by the response – and are gasping for volunteers to sort out the mountains of stuff here”.
Dan said they would be waiting until next week before opening up for donations again, “because we first need to process all this stuff that we have here.”
The journey from the campus to Ukraine is a challenging one. After collecting donations left at the University of York and Bootham School, as well as YSJ, the boxes get “ “sent on to lorries, transported to Leeds to arrive at the central depot for the UK charity Vulnerable Citizen Support (VCS), where the boxes will be organised and shipped out to drop sites in Romania and Poland. Goods will then be transported forward by the agencies on the ground to be distributed to Ukranian refugees,” Dan told YorkMix.
“Goods will then be transported forward by the agencies on the ground to be distributed to Ukranian refugees.”
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