Brian Nolen and John Fitzgerald are two Bedford, NH residents who are journeying from May 11 – June 1 to the Poland-Ukraine border to help with the refugee crisis there. This will be their second trip to the Tesco Refugee Center, located in Przemysl, Poland, their first having been completed on April 13 of this year. During that first trip, they served mainly as buyers for the many necessities the center provides to those seeking safety from the brutality of an unjust, unprovoked war of aggression. Things like blankets, undergarments, luggage, hygiene products and small creature comforts are in short supply and in great demand. The center, located in a vacant Tesco shopping center, has a capacity of around 1300 refugees, and the turnover at the facility is between 600 and 1100 per day. That’s 600 to 1100 in and 600 to 1100 out, EVERY SINGLE day.
The OVERWHELMING majority of these refugees are women and children, unaccompanied by men ages 18-65, who remain behind in Ukraine to defend their homeland. While the Polish government provides security for the refugee center, they provide little else. All other needs of these innocent people, forced to leave their homes and loved ones through no fault of their own, are provided by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and hundreds of volunteers from around the world who’ve traveled there to help those less fortunate than themselves.
Nolen and Fitzgerald source what they buy themselves, dealing directly with wholesalers and picking up and delivering purchases right to Tesco, bypassing delivery charges so that contribution dollars can do as much good as possible.
Not everyone is in a position to pack a bag and head to Poland. But everyone can help, and every bit of help is desperately needed. Please donate to this cause and help ease the suffering of the now 2.5 million women, children, sick and elderly who’ve been forced from their homes, with only the things they can carry, to live lives of uncertainty for the foreseeable future. Thank you in advance, and may God bless you all.