Ukranian war, what we have done and what we will do

Angelo Conti

War broke out on February 24. The next day Specchio opens a subscription and begins to help Ukraine. After five months the numbers recount a story of important interventions: 200,000 meals, 50,000 shopping packages, three refugee villages, in Mostyska, Lviv and Chernivtsi, 330 tons of food, over 100 trips with trucks, buses and mini buses. With the support of 6,793 donors it was possible to raise 1.73 million euros.

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The work of the Foundation already in March allows us to have a precise plan. There are those who want to get out of Ukraine, escape from the war, and Specchio dei tempi organizes buses that recover families on the Polish and Romanian borders. On this way over 500 refugees thus manage to arrive in Italy. But there are also those who want to stay, those who don’t want to leave their Country. The Foundation intercepts this need and is the first in Italy to build a village in Chernivtsi, within the Ukrainian borders. A thousand square meters of tensile structures, a canteen, a play area, and a zone for the distribution of shoes and clothes.

Then the Foundation transfers two mobile clinics from Turin, with the Specchiobus, to deal with health emergencies. Buys a field kitchen, the van that houses it, and a nine-seater minibus for the displacement of refugees. Every day it supplies the village with food and basic necessities. Then it looks at the North, and Specchio dei tempi expands its boundaries of intervention. First in Mostyska, here Specchio supplies the village with equipment, electricity generators and heat totems for the coming winter when temperatures will touch -15 degrees. Then he chooses to intervene in Lviv, activating a support program for the provision of meals and for the improving of reception facilities.

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At the same time Specchio also supports expatriate Ukrainians who have reached Italy in the last few months. The first 1,000 families to arrive in Piedmont received, in agreement with the Consulate of Ukraine in Turin, 500 euros in cash to cover the first expenses. The “Forza Mamme Ucraine” project is also activated, to encourage the integration of single women in Turin, who arrived in the country with their children. The initiative includes italian courses, entertainment for children, psychological counseling, trips to learn more about the area and sports activities in the parks. The project involved 210 mothers and 387 children.

Now, six months later the beginning of the war, there are also those who want to return. Precisely for this reason, Specchio deri tempi, in collaboration with the Embassy of Ukraine in Rome, started a busy return home program for refugees at the beginning of June. During the first two months two coaches per week left from Rome and Turin. Up to now 1,000 Ukrainians have been repatriated. The return program is set to continue in the autumn.

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The village of Cernivci supports 1,800 refugees every day

Angelo Conti

In Cernivci, in the interior of Ukraine, a huge structure with a kitchen, canteen, cots and medical clinics was built in a fortnight.

We are there in Ukraine. We have been working there for almost three weeks, intensively, every day. And since last Saturday, the Village in Cernivci has also been working to assist up to 1,800 refugees every day.

This is one of the projects that Specchio d’Italia, active since the first day after the invasion, has set up to assist the victims of the war, thanks to over 6,000 donations. After having thought, for the first few days, of supporting the refugees’ journeys to Italy, we began to notice a different propensity among these people. Today, only some of them are thinking of emigrating while an important part – perhaps the majority – prefers to ask to stay in those areas of Ukraine only marginally affected by the war and wait there for peace or at least a ceasefire to be achieved, bringing the possibility of returning to their homes and their work.

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For these reasons Specchio d’Italia (and the sister foundation Specchio dei Tempi), while continuing to facilitate travel to Italy for those who want to leave, have decided to build a village capable of hosting refugees fleeing the bombs in Ukraine. And we chose Cernivci, a city in northern Bogovina, centrally located between Kiev, Odessa and Lviv, about forty kilometers from the Romanian border and the Siret border. Here we work with Remar Spain and Remar Italia, two international non-profit organizations which have long been reliable partners of our foundations, who have offered the availability of a large number of international volunteers.

The village: numbers and facilities

The municipality of Cernivci immediately signed a memorandum with which it made available a central square and a nearby school, the first to equip the refugee camp and the second for logistics and warehouses. And so we set out, with the usual enthusiasm, organising in a few hours numerous trips by trucks and vans, to transfer the necessary material to Ukraine. Specchio d’Italia immediately purchased two tensile structures of 1,500 square meters in total that Remar assembled in 6 days (with the help of technicians from the municipality of Cernivci).

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Last Friday the distribution of meals began, currently around 700 per day, and the first 500 square meter tensile structure was completely furnished as a canteen.

In the next few hours, we will complete the second tensile structure by sending dozens of Ferrino camp beds. And by the end of the week, the Specchiobus will also reach Cernivci, the maxi Ducato of Specchio dei Tempo which houses two fully equipped medical clinics on board. Italian and Ukrainian doctors and nurses will work there together.

All this is made possible by the donations that support us in a transparent, immediate and above all front-line commitment. We want to do this and we tell about it, promptly, every day. Help us too.

Five thousand donations for Ukraine: the collection continues

Angelo Conti

More than 5,000 donations have been made to Specchio dei tempi and Specchio d’Italia for immediate aid to refugees fleeing the bombs. At the same time, the total amount of resources has exceeded 1.1 million euro. Yesterday we also exceeded the quota of 200 families helped with an economic contribution (yesterday alone there were 60 in Novara) and the quota of 600 people transported to Italy by coach and minibus. More than 100 tonnes of goods were transferred from Italy to the borders.

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A village in Ukraine to host 1,000 refugees

All activities are underway and these numbers are all set to increase in the coming hours. On the front line, that is, in the war zone, Specchio dei tempi and Specchio d’Italia are active in setting up the “Specchio Village” in Cernivci, 30 kilometres from the Ukrainian border at Siret in Romania. Here we have signed an agreement with the Ukrainian municipality, which has granted us the use of a school (equipped with an air-raid shelter) and made available two squares for the assembly of tensile structures of about 1500 square metres that will house first reception areas, kitchens and clinics to help the refugees.

The village close to Romanian border

All this is possible thanks to the strong agreement with Remar Spain, the non-profit organisation that has been collaborating with Specchio dei tempi for years and that takes care of the logistics of these interventions.

Shuttles and humanitarian aids

Meanwhile, the shuttle service between Italy and the borders continues. Yesterday, a couple of taxi drivers departed from Milan, accompanied by an interpreter, to reach Oradea in Romania with a bus uttles and humanitarian aidloaded with aid and then return with two Ukrainian families.  The coach that left on Tuesday for Medyka in Poland and the 66-seater coach that left on Wednesday from Fossano for Romania are still on their way. A truckload of aid, with a nurse on board, is on its way to Poland.

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The collection of foodstuffs, mineral water, pillows, blankets and personal care items continues. In this context, by Sunday Acqua Sant’Anna will supply thousands of bottles, which will be sent to the borders on Monday, while RoverAir will donate thousands of shampoo packs. They will be stored in Fossano, in the warehouse made available by Confartigianato Cuneo, and in Turin to continue towards Cernivci in the first days of next week.

Humanitarian aids to be sent to Polonia borders

How to donate for the Ukrainian refugees

You can donate by clicking here or you can pay by bank transfer to the current account in the name of Fondazione Specchio d’Italia ONLUS, Iban code IT82 F030 6909 6061 0000 0176 056, Banca Intesasanpaolo. Please indicate “For the people of Ukraine” in the reason for payment.

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Half a million euro donated for Ukraine

Over 505,000 euro raised from 2,215 donors. This is the current picture of the subscription launched by Specchio d’Italia and Specchio dei tempi, the two charitable foundations linked to the Gedi group. Among the first to have opened the collection in favour of the Ukrainian refugees, already on the morning of Sunday 27 February, with a payment of their own funds for 100,000 euro, they then managed a long series of interventions.

The first emergency appeared on the Polish and Hungarian borders. In a few hours, Specchio d’Italia contacted voluntary associations, local authorities and journalists from local newspapers in those countries to get a good understanding. It appeared that while there were no critical situations on the Hungarian border (the Hungarian reception machine is efficient and covers all the needs of those arriving), the situation on the routes to Poland, Romania and Moldova was quite different. The first shuttles financed and supported by our foundations went to these areas.

 After a few days, the first refugees arrived in Italy, reaching first Brescia, then Modena, Milan, Rome and Turin. Since then, the shuttle service has become daily: 9-seater buses and a 54-seater coach, which left on Saturday and returned to Piedmont last night.

Obviously, these vehicles also started to transport basic necessities: mainly foodstuffs with a long shelf life, personal hygiene products, mattresses, cots, pillows, medicines and various medical supplies (with particular demand for syringes, bandages, plasters and disinfectants).

Gradually, the sphere of intervention was extended to Ukraine: the two foundations’ minibuses reached Lviv on several occasions, bringing supplies and returning loaded with hope in the form of the refugees.

In the meantime, Specchio d’Italia has also started to offer assistance to refugees who have arrived in other Italian cities. In Palermo, an important economic contribution was given to the family of a severely disabled 8-year-old girl who had just arrived from Kiev (photo below). It was precisely this intervention that triggered another initiative to enable the supply of rare and expensive medicines (e.g. anti-epileptic drugs) for disabled children still in Ukraine.

Specchio d’Italia is also opening a tent city on the border with Romania for the first reception of those arriving and from tomorrow will also support the costs of a chain of departures with 60-seater coaches to Milan, Rome and Turin.

How to donate for the Ukrainian refugees

You can donate by clicking here or you can pay by bank transfer to the current account in the name of Fondazione Specchio d’Italia ONLUS, Iban code IT82 F030 6909 6061 0000 0176 056, Banca Intesasanpaolo. Please indicate “For the people of Ukraine” in the reason for payment.

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How we are using donations for Ukrainians

Angelo Conti

Close to Ukraine, really close. Specchio d’Italia was one of the first Italian foundations to launch a subscription in favour of Ukraine on Sunday 27 February. At the same time, its sister foundation, Specchio dei tempi, which has more than 60 years’ experience in humanitarian aid in emergencies, also took immediate action to support the collection. When the two foundations opened the subscription, they provided 100,000 euro of their own funds, which were immediately joined by private donations from everyone: citizens, families, schools and companies. The collection has now exceeded EUR 440,000.

What have we done to help the Ukrainians? The first emergency appeared to be the hundreds of thousands of refugees crossing the Polish and Hungarian borders. Within a few hours, we contacted voluntary associations, local authorities and journalists from local newspapers in those countries to get a good understanding. It became clear that while there were no problems on the Hungarian border (the Hungarian reception system was efficient and met all the needs of those arriving), the situation on the two main routes between Ukraine and Poland was quite different. On Monday, the first shuttles, financed and supported by our foundation, were already on their way to these areas. On Wednesday night, the first refugees arrived in Italy, reaching first Brescia and then Turin.

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Since then, the shuttle service has been running on a daily basis: 9-seater buses, but also a 54-seater bus, which has just left today and will be used frequently next week. Obviously, these vehicles have also begun to transport basic necessities: mainly foodstuffs with a long shelf life, personal hygiene products, medicines and various medical supplies (with particular demand for syringes, bandages, plasters and disinfectants).

In the meantime, in Palermo, we delivered an important financial contribution to the family of a severely disabled 8-year-old girl (Elisabetta Pastux) who had just arrived from Kiev. And it was precisely this disability that triggered another initiative to enable the supply of rare and expensive medicines (e.g. anti-epileptic drugs) for disabled children still in Ukraine.

Next week’s programme includes intensifying connections with the borders to transport refugees to Italy, but also sending medical supplies and food to those who have decided to stay in Ukraine, some to fight, some unable to move for health reasons, some out of attachment to their homeland.

We will continue to be close to the Ukrainian people. Everyone can give us a hand to be even more incisive and more capable of bringing comfort to desperate people.

How to donate for the Ukrainian refugees

You can donate by clicking here or you can pay by bank transfer to the current account in the name of Fondazione Specchio d’Italia ONLUS, Iban code IT82 F030 6909 6061 0000 0176 056, Banca Intesasanpaolo. Please indicate “For the people of Ukraine” in the reason for payment.

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How to donate for Ukrainian refugees

Specchio d’Italia launches an emergency appeal and allocates 50,000 euro

Specchio d’Italia launches an emergency appeal for Ukrainian people, after getting many requests from its readers.

Thus, an amount of 50,000 euro has immediately been put at disposition to support thousands of refugees fleeing from their own war-torn Country.

Anybody can help us and Ukraine. As always, we are keeping you updated on all our initiatives.

 

How to donate for the Ukrainian refugees

You can donate by clicking here or you can pay by bank transfer to the current account in the name of Fondazione Specchio d’Italia ONLUS, Iban code IT82 F030 6909 6061 0000 0176 056, Banca Intesasanpaolo. Please indicate “For the people of Ukraine” in the reason for payment.

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