Estonian donations in aid of Ukraine near €6 million-mark
Close to €6 million in donations in support of the Ukrainian people has already been raised in Estonia as of Friday, following the Russian invasion which started a little over a week earlier.
Five main organizations make up the "Ukraina heaks!" initiative, and between them had raised €5.9 million as of Friday.
Liis Ehrminger, spokesperson for one of the organizations, the Estonian Red Cross (Punane Rist) said that large numbers of items, such as bedding and hygiene products, had also been donated, to the extent that collection efforts had had to take a pause Friday evening.
Ehrminger said: "As of now, we already have about 10 truckloads of donated items in our warehouses. We have a very concrete list of things that we are collecting, which we did not come up with ourselves, but rather it came from the Ukrainian Red Cross, and primarily consists of all kinds of hygiene items, along with bed linen, blankets, pillows, sheets."
Financial donations to the Red Cross are still being received, Ehrminger said, while the items donated at collection points are expected to be transferred to the warehouses by Monday.
In addition to the Red Cross, three non-profits: The Estonian Refugee Council (Eesti Pagulasabi), humanitarian aid organization Mondo and the Ukrainian Cultural Center (Ukraina Kultuurikeskus), as well as the state defense promotion foundation (Riigikaitse Edendamise Sihtasutus), make up the five bodies at present dealing with the major donation drives in Estonia.
Madli Timm, communications manager at the Estonian Refugee Council, said that in addition to financial support, refugees fleeing the conflict can also be aided by offering them accommodation and workplaces, while members of the public can also volunteer.
Timm put the figure for job offers at around 800, via the Unemployment Insurance Fund (Töötukassa) and the number of volunteers so far at 1,600.
The figure for donations is set to rise – the Red Cross said on Friday that to its knowledge that a donation of an additional one million euros was due to arrive from the private sector, while several, smaller charity projects working to help Ukraine mean the real sum donated so far is likely higher than the €6 million quoted.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte