More than 12 tonnes of supplies donated to Cork group bringing aid to Ukrainian refugees 

The people of Cork have so far donated over 12 tonnes of supplies and €12,000 to a group delivering humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees on the Polish-Ukrainian border.

Cork Humanitarian Aid Ireland, which is made up of volunteers from local charities Cork Missing Persons Search and Recovery (CCMPSAR) and Cork Penny Dinners, is working with a Cork-based Redemptorist priest to bring a convoy of aid to Ukrainian refugees on the Polish-Ukrainian border.

The group, which is leaving Cork on Tuesday afternoon, is appealing for last-minute donations of cash, baby food, new, unused children’s clothing, babies’ bottles and soothers.

Donations are being accepted at the North Cathedral visitors’ centre, which has been made available by Catholic Bishop of Cork, Bishop Fintan Gavin, and the people of Cork have already responded in kind, with cash donations in excess of €12,000 and over 12 tonnes of clothing, medical supplies, toiletries and non-perishable foodstuffs received at the centre.

“The decency and the generosity of people would just hit you in the heart,” Caitriona Twomey, who last Friday received a Cork Person of the Year Hall of Fame award for her work as co-ordinator of Cork Penny Dinners, told The Echo.

“We have taken in over a tonne-and-a-half of nappies, and that will just show you the empathy of people who are watching the news and thinking of people who have had their world turned upside-down.

“There’s just such a fantastic community spirit in Cork, and people are so kind,” Ms Twomey said.

“One person gave us a donation of €6 and said: ‘Hopefully that will help someone’, and that will show you that people who might not have much themselves are thinking of the people of Ukraine at this awful time.” 

Chris O’Donovan, who is treasurer of CCMPSAR, said the plan was to bring approximately 15 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the Polish-Ukrainian border.

“We have five vans, which we will fill, and if the ferry wasn’t full, we would probably be able to take another van, which will tell you how generous the people of Cork have been.

“We are working with Fr Gerry O’Connor in Blackrock, and we will meet his Redemptorist colleagues at the Polish border, and they will get every penny of humanitarian aid to people who need it most, people who are stuck in towns and villages inside Ukraine and unable to get out,” Mr O’Donovan said.